Stocks – Apple, the Fed & Volkswagen Weigh

While it would normally be naive to peg market action to any one factor week to week, it is true that nothing matters this week more than the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and its resulting Monetary Policy Statement. The greatest significance of corporate earnings reports and economic data now is all tied to how the news might sway the Fed’s view of the economy and thus impact its monetary policy decision. For as long as the data is questionable enough to keep the Fed on hold until the global scenery improves, stocks can continue to appreciate. Stocks have gained to-date in October on the decreasing likelihood of October Fed rate action, and so the pivotal Fed policy event this Wednesday will dictate whether equities rise higher or whether the rug is pulled out from under the October recovery of shares. I anticipate the Fed will have to stay on hold, given the latest softened jobs and manufacturing data, and also the pressure provided by the European Central Bank (ECB) last week. Article interests Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY), Vanguard Total Stock Market (NYSE: VTI). See the full report on stocks here.

Market Sector Security	October Through 10/23/15
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+8.3%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+8.5%
PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+10.8%
iShares Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM)	+6.1%

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