If you don't succeed at first, try, try again. That old mantra could well be used describe the mood on Wall Street this week so far. Thus, after Monday's strong open, which quickly saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average jump by more than 300 points, concerns about tariffs and trade took the steam out of the rally. Indeed, by late afternoon that same composite had plunged to a loss of some 565 points, making it roughly a 900-point downward intraday swing. Strong bargain hunting then halved that deficit by the close. Then, yesterday morning, the bulls were back at it again, and stocks once more rallied at the outset.

In all, as we ended the first half hour of trading yesterday, the Dow was up 225 points; an even bigger gain was tacked on by the S&P 500. Moreover, the NASDAQ, after a halting start, gained nicely, as well. The small and mid-cap indexes rallied impressively too, in a follow-up attempt to turn the market higher as Halloween and November approached. As had been the case Monday, the gains continued as the first hour passed, although some of the best increases were given up. Behind the renewed confidence was a desire to bargain hunt at the end of a down month, which is often the pattern on the Street after a weak 30- or 31-day period.

And, indeed, this has been a woeful stretch for the market, with both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 falling into correction territory following Monday's further rout. All told, the latest setback pushed the Dow and the S&P 500 into negative territory for the year to date, while the NASDAQ was clinging to a modest gain. In other news, early yesterday, the Conference Board again reported a strong reading on consumer confidence, with its survey rising from September's 135.3 reading to October's result of 137.9. This was the best showing since September of 2000.
      
Regarding the rally effort, it also was stimulated by optimism on trade after the President intoned the night before that he thought the United States would make a “great” trade deal with China. On the other hand, there was negative news out of General Electric (GE), the beleaguered former Dow component, which announced that it will cut its quarterly dividend to $.01 a share. The SEC also is looking into the company's accounting practices. The stock fell sharply on that news, reaching yet one more 52-week low. Also on the downswing once more was International Business Machines (IBM – Free IBM Stock Report), which fell on Monday after announcing a major acquisition.

Meanwhile, after some earlier backing and filling, the market rallied further into the noon hour, with the Dow gaining more than 300 points. The other indexes performed will, too, as Wall Street seemed intent on ending a difficult month on an up note. Thereafter, the major indexes went back and forth, losing nearly all of their gain by early afternoon, before recouping all of that lost ground and more as we moved more deeply into the afternoon. There seemed to be no inclination to unload stocks in wholesale fashion as there had been on Monday, So the market rallied into the close.   

When all the numbers were in, the Dow was ahead by 432 points; the S&P 500 Index was better by 41 points; and the tech-driven NASDAQ was in the green by 111 points. Looking out now on a new day, we see that shares were higher in Asia overnight and they are moving nicely ahead in Europe so far this morning. Also, oil prices are rebounding and Treasury yields are climbing. All of this adds up to a likely higher start in New York when our stock market opens for trading on this last day of October. 
 
- Harvey S. Katz, CFA 
 
At the time of this article’s writing, the author held positions in one or more of the companies mentioned.