US equities are mostly higher today as the Dow Industrials close in on another record high

US equities are mostly higher today as the Dow Industrials close in on another record high. The one exception, tech stocks are struggling to finish in positive territory as the NASDAQ is being weighed down by losses in Apple, FB, Tesla, and others. The mostly positive day for stocks is a result of speculation the Fed won't be tapering next month. Fed officials are on record as saying economic weakness is a reason to keep bond buying at its current levels. The key, as it always has been, is job growth. Until unemployment hits a reasonable level, the Fed will likely keep stimulus running at highly accommodative levels (as the central bank likes to say). Regarding interest rates, the Fed seems set on a 6.5% unemployment number as a guideline for raising rates - something we're not anywhere close to at this point.