Economic Update for the week of August 12th, 2014

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”       - Marcel Proust            WEEKLY TIP               Here’s a good reason not to prematurely withdraw funds from a qualified retirement plan: it will be some of the costliest money you can find. Taxes and penalties could leave you with as little as 50% of that money in the end.        WEEKLY 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 riddle: Fill in the blank: if Ruby’s mom is Patricia, then Patricia is the ____ of Ruby’s mother.        Last week’s answer: Name.	August 12, 2014      U.S. SERVICE SECTOR IS BOOMING The Institute for Supply Management’s July non-manufacturing PMI came in at a stellar 58.7, indicating rapid expansion. It hadn’t been that high since December 2005, and its new orders sub-index reached a peak unseen since August 2005. On Wall Street, some investors worried that the Federal Reserve would take the news as additional grounds for raising short-term interest rates – but in the big picture, it expresses the strength of the recovery. ISM’s service sector PMI had a reading of 56.0 in June.1       FACTORY ORDERS RISE 1.1% June’s gain far outshined the 0.5% increase forecast by analysts surveyed by Briefing.com. This was a nice comeback for the indicator after the (revised) 0.6% decline in orders that the Census Bureau recorded for May.2       HEADLINES BOOST GOLD PRICES; OIL PULLS BACK Geopolitical risk in Eastern Europe and the Middle East meant more interest in the yellow metal last week as investors sought a place to park some cash. In New York, gold settled at $1,310.60 per ounce Friday, up 1.35% for the week. NYMEX crude actually lost 0.28% for the week, settling Friday at $97.35.3    FRIDAY RALLY TURNS DOWN WEEK AROUND Reports that Russian troops were no longer conducting maneuvers near Ukraine’s border helped the S&P 500 climb 1.15% Friday. The broad benchmark gained 0.33% across 5 days, closing the week at 1,931.59. Minor weekly gains also came for the Nasdaq (0.42% to 4,370.90) and the Dow (0.37% to 16,553.93).4    THIS WEEK: Earnings season rolls on Monday as American Apparel, Aramark, Priceline.com, Tata Motors, Procter & Gamble and Sysco report quarterly results. Tuesday, the Street considers earnings from Prudential, Fossil, La Quinta Holdings, LoJack and Towers Watson. On Wednesday, reports on July retail sales and June business inventories complement earnings from Cisco, NetApp, Deere, Macy’s, Pinnacle Foods, RE/MAX and Silver Wheaton. In addition to the week’s report on initial jobless claims, Thursday brings earnings reports from Wal-Mart, Lenovo, Nordstrom, JC Penney, Red Robin, Applied Materials, Houghton Mifflin and Autodesk. Friday, the July PPI and July industrial output report appear along with Q2 results from Estee Lauder.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA -0.14 +6.81 +15.33 +6.87 NASDAQ +4.65 +19.13 +23.70 +14.63 S&P 500 +4.50 +13.79 +18.23 +8.13 REAL YIELD 8/8 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.19% 0.34% 1.88% 1.85%   Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 8/8/144,5,6,7 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 - reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-usa-economy-idINKBN0G51LF20140806 [8/6/14] 2 - briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2014/08/04-08 [8/8/14] 3 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/commodities/commodities.asp [8/8/14] 4 - markets.wsj.com/us [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F8%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F8%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F8%2F13&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F7%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F7%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F7%2F09&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=8%2F9%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=8%2F9%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=8%2F9%2F04&x=0&y=0 [8/8/14]           6 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [8/8/14] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [8/8/14]