Economic Update for the week of May 6th, 2014

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”       - Bertrand Russell           WEEKLY TIP               Be careful not to take on more risk in your portfolio than you are comfortable with. If you do, you may succumb to panic selling should a downturn happen.        WEEKLY RIDDLE             It has dozens of fine teeth, but you can hold it in your hand and it will never bite you. What is it?          Last week’s riddle: What 10-letter word (in English) can you type out using only the topmost row of letters on a computer keyboard (the Q-P row)? Hint: the first two letters of the word are next to each other in the Q-P row.     Last week’s answer: Typewriter.	May 6, 2014      HIRING & MANUFACTURING PICK UP America’s economy created 288,000 new jobs in April, the most in any month since January 2012. Labor Department data showed the jobless rate falling dramatically to 6.3%, largely due to more people abandoning the job hunt. Still, the U-6 rate (unemployment + underemployment) was at 12.3% in April, a 4½-year low. The Institute for Supply Management factory PMI rose to 54.9 in April, marking the eleventh straight month of expansion in manufacturing.1,2     ROBUST CONSUMER SPENDING, YET WEAK Q1 GDP Personal spending rose 0.9% in March, nearly double the 0.5% advance that the Commerce Department saw in February. Even so, the Bureau Of Economic Analysis said the economy grew by just 0.1% in the first quarter in its initial estimate.3      CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DOWN SLIGHTLY The Conference Board’s respected index was at 82.3 in April, down from 83.9 in March. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a dip to 83.0.4      PENDING HOME SALES INCREASE AT LAST They rose 3.4% in March, the National Association of Realtors said; the last monthly upturn was in June. In other housing news, February’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed a 12.9% overall yearly advance.3       ANXIETIES BUILD, BUT STOCKS DON’T TURN SOUTH At Friday’s close, the Dow settled at 16,512.89, the S&P 500 at 1,881.14 and the Nasdaq at 4,123.90. Across five days, the DJIA gained 0.93%, the S&P 0.95% and the Nasdaq 1.19% even with the Ukraine crisis intensifying late in the week.5    THIS WEEK: On Monday, Occidental Petroleum, AIG, Acura, Pfizer, Papa John’s, Tyson Foods, Andarko Petroleum, Cardtronics and Orbitz report earnings and ISM offers its April service sector PMI. Quarterly results from Activision Blizzard, Alamo, Allstate, Groupon, Marathon Oil, Office Depot, Zulily, Coca-Cola, DirecTV, Whole Foods, Eastman Kodak, Electronic Arts, Towers Watson, TripAdvisor, Starwood Properties and Chesapeake Utilities arrive on Tuesday. Wednesday brings earnings from Allergan, Health Net, Tesla, Zillow, Hertz, Molycorp, Rosetta Stone, Humana, Prudential, Molson Coors, Keurig Green Mountain and Spectra Energy. A new initial jobless claims report and earnings from DISH Network, Wendy’s, Jamba, Dean Foods, Learning Tree, Scripps Networks, Toyota, Windstream, Nvidia, NewsCorp, Priceline, Symantec, Aramark, CBS and Monster appear Thursday. Friday brings data on March wholesale inventories and earnings from Hilton and Ralph Lauren.        % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA -0.38 +11.34 +20.21 +6.01 NASDAQ -1.26 +23.45 +27.97 +11.27 S&P 500 +1.77 +17.75 +22.87 +6.83 REAL YIELD 5/2 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.41% -0.62% 1.80% 2.09%   Sources: USATODAY.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 5/2/146,7,8,9 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 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 - fool.com/investing/general/2014/05/02/the-american-employment-picture-keeps-getting-bett.aspx [5/2/14] 2 - ism.ws/ISMReport/MfgROB.cfm [5/1/14] 3 - investing.com/economic-calendar/ [5/2/14] 4 - blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/04/29/april-u-s-consumer-confidence-slips-to-82-3-below-expectations/ [4/29/14] 5 - thestreet.com/story/12693368/1/market-hustle-stocks-higher-after-solid-jobs-report.html [5/2/14] 6 - usatoday.com/money/markets/overview/ [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F2%2F13&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F2%2F13&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F2%2F13&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F1%2F09&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F1%2F09&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F1%2F09&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F3%2F04&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F3%2F04&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F3%2F04&x=0&y=0 [5/2/14]           8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [5/2/14] 9 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [5/2/14]