Economic Update for the week of August 19th, 2014

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people.”       - Mario Puzo            WEEKLY TIP               The SSA isn’t mailing paper statements any longer, so it is wise to create a My Social Security account at ssa.gov to track your future benefits and guard against errors.        WEEKLY RIDDLE              Stick your fingers in my eyes, then move them and watch my jaws open wide. What am I?          Last week’s riddle: If I am used in an emergency, I can help the hero – yet when you multiply all the numbers on my face, all you get is zero. What am I?        Last week’s answer: A phone.	August 19, 2014      RETAIL SALES COOL OFF IN JULY They were flat according to the Commerce Department, with core retail sales (excluding food, car, gasoline and home improvement purchases) up just 0.1%. Economists polled by Reuters believed overall retail sales would advance 0.2% last month. Is this a signal that Q3 growth won’t come near Q2 growth? It does reflect subdued consumer spending in the quarter’s first month.1       YEARLY WHOLESALE INFLATION CONTINUES TO DIP The 12-month gain in the federal government’s Producer Price Index has gradually declined since the April reading, when it was measured at 2.1%. July brought a 0.1% increase in the headline PPI, but that still left the yearly gain at just 1.7%.2       FACTORY OUTPUT JUMPS Federal Reserve data showed a 1.0% increase in industrial output last month; July’s gain was the largest since February. July witnessed a 10.1% leap in auto production, the largest monthly improvement for that gauge in more than five years.3    CONSUMER SENTIMENT MOVES SOUTH The preliminary August reading on the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was not good. The 79.2 mark was not only below the final 81.8 reading for July, it also represented a 9-month low.3    TENSIONS INCREASE IN UKRAINE, YET STOCKS RISE News of Ukrainian troops destroying Russian military vehicles sent Treasury yields down Friday but had little effect on the weekly performances of the Dow (+0.66% to 16,662.91), S&P 500 (+1.22% to 1,955.06) and Nasdaq (+2.15% to 4,464.93).4    THIS WEEK: Monday, Pandora and Urban Outfitters announce earnings. On Tuesday, the July CPI and data on July housing starts and building permits arrive, plus quarterly results from Dick’s Sporting Goods, TJX and Medtronic. Wednesday sees the release of the July Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes, and Staples, Popeye’s, JM Smucker, America’s CarMart, L Brands and Hewlett-Packard all issue earnings announcements. On Thursday, NAR publishes its July existing home sales report, the Conference Board comes out with its July index of leading indicators, and initial unemployment claims are again tallied; Salesforce.com, GameStop, Intuit and Hormel provide quarterly results. Friday morning, Fed chair Janet Yellen speaks about the labor market at a Kansas City Fed symposium; Friday also features earnings from RBC.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +0.52 +10.26 +15.75 +6.74 NASDAQ +6.90 +23.82 +24.97 +15.04 S&P 500 +5.77 +17.68 +18.94 +8.11 REAL YIELD 8/15 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.16% 0.60% 1.85% 1.82%   Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 8/15/145,6,7,8 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 MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. 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. 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. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. 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 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 - tinyurl.com/nsnnqa5 [8/13/14] 2 - investing.com/economic-calendar/ [8/15/14] 3 - reuters.com/article/2014/08/15/us-usa-economy-prices-idUSKBN0GF11G20140815 [8/15/14] 4 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [8/15/14] 5 - markets.wsj.com/us [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F15%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F15%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F15%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F14%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F14%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F14%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F16%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F16%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F16%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/15/14]          7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [8/15/14] 8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [8/15/14]