Stock Market Updates

A recent reader asked for my an update to my investment experiment with credit card debt. Unfortunately, there isn't much to tell yet. Last Thursday and Friday, I bought in Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Call Options, thinking the market was severely battered by what I believed to be high speculative oil prices.

This bet has been proving well for me today, with oil prices coming down. The DJIA has also been helped by positive expectations for tomorrow's earnings report from Wal-Mart.

Along with Wal-Mart's first quarter earnings report, retail sales figure will also be released. This is a key indicator of consumer spending patterns. The market expects a downward pressure, in line with general thoughts of recession. If this measure is neutral, or if better positive, the market will react very positively, perhaps seeing another flirtation with the mythical 13,000 mark.