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WEEKLY QUOTE
“How
wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to
improve the world.”
-
Anne Frank
WEEKLY TIP
Here’s
a New Year’s resolution worth considering: maxing out your annual
contributions to retirement accounts in 2014. If you haven’t been doing this,
see if you can do it next year.
WEEKLY RIDDLE
It
softly goes up and down the stairs in many homes and office buildings, and yet
it never moves. What could it be?
Last week’s riddle:
It is in seconds, seasons, centuries and minutes, but you won’t
find it in years, decades or days. What is it?
Last week’s answer:
The letter N.
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January 2nd, 2014
A HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON TO CELEBRATE
Good news from the Commerce Department: November brought a
healthy 0.5% gain in personal spending (matching the consensus forecast of
economists polled by Briefing.com) and a 0.2% rise in personal income that
offset the 0.1% retreat in October. SpendingPulse, which tracks online and
in-store retail purchases, says that retail sales increased 3.5% during the
holiday season. It reports that 2013’s holiday spending was 2.3% greater than
in 2012; the International Council of Shopping Centers puts the gain at 2.7%.1,2
NO CHANGE IN CONSUMER SENTIMENT
Against expectations, the University of Michigan’s final
December consumer sentiment index came in at 82.5 – exactly where it was at
the end of November. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had projected the
index to end 2013 at 83.3.1
NEW HOME SALES DOWN, BUT UP FROM SUMMER
November’s 2.1% dip in new home buying seemed to reflect
buyers adjusting to higher mortgage rates. Still, the pace of new home
purchases (a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000) was up nicely from
July and August (when it was below 400,000). In November, new home sales were
up 17% from a year ago; the Commerce Department noted a median price of $270,900,
representing a 10.6% year-over-year gain.3
MORE DEMAND FOR DURABLES
Orders
for hard goods were up 3.5% in November, 1.2% with transportation orders
removed. The Census Bureau revised its October durable goods report to show an
0.7% overall retreat.1
STOCKS POST WEEKLY GAINS
A
short trading week saw the S&P 500 advancing another 1.27% to 1,841.40,
the Dow climbing 1.59% to 16,478.41 and the NASDAQ gaining 1.26% to 4,156.59.4,5,6
THIS WEEK: Monday, the
National Association of Realtors puts out its November pending home sales
report. October’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and the Conference
Board’s December consumer confidence index both appear on Tuesday; New Year’s
Eve is a regular trading day for both the NYSE and NASDAQ, but the U.S. bond
market should wrap things up at 2:00pm EST. U.S. financial markets are closed
Wednesday (New Year’s Day). ISM’s December manufacturing PMI is the big news
item on Thursday, with weekly jobless claims figures also being released.
Friday, the Commerce Department issues data on December car and truck sales.
Sources: CNNMoney.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 12/27/134,5,6,7,8,9
Indices are unmanaged, do not
incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly.
These returns do not include
dividends.
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«RepresentativeDisclosure»
This material was prepared by
MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of
the presenting party, nor their affiliates. Marketing Library.Net Inc. is not
affiliated with any broker or brokerage firm that may be providing this
information to you. This information should not be construed as investment,
tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any
Federal tax penalty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted
index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is
an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks
traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
System. The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of
securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It
is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX)
operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”)
and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and
the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities
listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York
Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity
futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious
metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division,
home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division,
on which all other metals trade. Additional risks are associated with
international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and
economic instability and differences in accounting standards. This material
represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in
time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of
future results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when
redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. All
information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no
representation as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance
data is historical and not indicative of future results. Market indices
discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The
publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional
services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the
services of a competent professional.
Citations.
1 - briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2013/12/23-27
[12/27/13]
2 - bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-26/u-s-holiday-sales-rise-3-5-spendingpulse-says.html
[12/26/13]
3 - marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-approach-fastest-pace-since-2008-2013-12-24
[12/24/13]
4 - money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow
[12/27/13]
5 - money.cnn.com/data/markets/nasdaq/
[12/27/13]
6 - money.cnn.com/data/markets/sandp/
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=12%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=12%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=12%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=12%2F26%2F08&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=12%2F26%2F08&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=12%2F26%2F08&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=12%2F26%2F03&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=12%2F26%2F03&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
7 -
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=12%2F26%2F03&x=0&y=0
[12/27/13]
8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield
[12/27/13]
9 -
treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll
[12/27/13]
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Thursday, January 2, 2014
Economic Update for the week of January 2nd, 2014
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