Economic Update for the week of April 15th, 2013

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE               “Find somebody else to run your business on a day-to-day basis.”       - Richard Branson           WEEKLY TIP               While home equity and life insurance may present you with sources of retirement income, they do not represent “retirement plans.”       WEEKLY RIDDLE             You have 31 baseballs in a box. You have 31 kids lined up to get them. You give each kid a baseball, but at the end, one baseball remains in the box. How is this possible?          Last week’s riddle: They have not flesh, nor feathers, nor scales, nor bone. Yet they have fingers and thumbs of their own. What are they?     Last week’s answer: Gloves.	April 15, 2013      HOUSEHOLDS BOUGHT LESS LAST MONTH Retail sales were down 0.4% in March, according to the Commerce Department. This unanticipated dip was the deepest retreat in nine months. Even with volatile car and truck sales factored out, the March decline remained 0.4%.1    CONSUMER SENTIMENT SLIPS The University of Michigan’s overall index of consumer sentiment came in at 72.3 in its preliminary April reading – down significantly from the final March mark of 78.6. Last month’s imposed federal budget cuts may have had an effect.1      PRODUCER PRICE INDEX DOWN 0.6% Cheap gasoline was the big factor. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2% retreat in the PPI for March, but the decline in pump prices made more of an impact. Core PPI (with food and energy costs subtracted) rose 0.2% last month.1,2     GOLD ENTERS A BEAR MARKET Friday, the precious metal settled at $1,501.40 on the COMEX after a 4.1% one-day plunge. Futures fell 4.7% across last week. The April 12 settlement price was 20.5% below the record close of $1,888.70 notched on August 22, 2011.3   STOCKS CLIMB 2% IN A WEEK Unfazed by soft economic indicators, Wall Street was in a buying mood last week. After a 2.29% gain in five days left the S&P 500 at 1,588.85 at Friday’s close, investors wondered if the index would top 1,600 soon. The Dow (+2.06% to 14,865.06), NASDAQ (+2.84% to 3,294.95) and Russell 2000 (+2.12% to 942.85) all advanced impressively on the week.2      THIS WEEK: Monday, Citigroup presents Q1 results and a new NAHB Housing Market Index appears. The March CPI arrives Tuesday, along with numbers on March housing starts and earnings from Coca-Cola, Yahoo!, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Northern Trust, US Bancorp, Intel and CSX. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve offers its latest Beige Book and Wall Street awaits earnings from American Express, Bank of NY Mellon, Abbott Labs, Bank of America, eBay and SanDisk. The Conference Board’s March index of leading indicators comes out Thursday, G20 finance ministers meet, and Chipotle, United Health, E-Trade, Philip Morris, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Verizon, Nokia, Peabody Energy, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Capital One report earnings. Friday, earnings from Schlumberger, McDonald’s, GE and Honeywell round out the week.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +13.44 +14.46 +4.12 +8.12 NASDAQ +9.12 +7.83 +8.77 +14.25 S&P 500 +11.41 +14.51 +3.84 +8.30 REAL YIELD 4/12 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS -0.68% -0.22% 1.19% 2.23%   Sources: cnbc.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 4/12/132,4,5,6 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 - www.nasdaq.com/article/us-stocks-slip-with-weak-consumer-sentiment-retail-data-20130412-00393#.UWhv1cpXqXk [4/12/13] 2 - www.cnbc.com/id/100637362 [4/12/13] 3 - www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-slip-with-weekly-declines-in-sight-2013-04-12 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F12%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F12%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F12%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F11%2F08&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F11%2F08&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F11%2F08&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F11%2F03&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F11%2F03&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 4 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F11%2F03&x=0&y=0 [4/12/13] 5 - www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [4/12/13] 6 - www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [4/12/13]