Stocks are having a mixed day, giving up gains as the trading day ends. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Index: ^DJI) has moved a minuscule 0.01% higher with a half-hour left in trading, and the S&P 500 (Index: ^GSPC) is up 0.03%. There is some news out that could affect the market, but eyes may be elsewhere, which I'll get to in a minute.
The German Constitutional Court ruled that the Euro's bailout fund is legal, paving the way for strong action to save the euro. But the news failed to raise bank stocks beyond their recent rally. JPMorgan Chase (JPM +0.35%) climbed 0.5%, and Bank of America (BAC +1.07%) was actually the biggest loser on the Dow, falling 1.4%.
The overall economy didn't get much good news today. The Census Bureau released a report that said that 46.2 million Americans are living in poverty due to a 1.5% reduction in real median household incomes. Clearly, the middle class is still struggling.
The Federal Reserve is also starting its regular two-day meeting, and investors will be awaiting news on QE3, but for today the market has been pretty quiet. That'll likely be the case until we get to earnings season in another month and get a clue as to how companies are handling the economic conditions.
Some traders and investors have been watching a number of blogs covering the iPhone 5 launch. The big news from Apple's (AAPL +0.72%) event clearly took over every news outlet imaginable and sucked productivity from corporate America. For details on what the iPhone 5 means for investors and more must-know info on Apple, check out our premium report on the stock, which comes with a year of updates. Click here to find out more.
