Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Economic Update for the week of November 4th, 2014

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE


WEEKLY QUOTE
              
“I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.”
     
- H.B. Swope
      
   
WEEKLY TIP
             
When was the last time you reviewed the beneficiary designations on your investment accounts, insurance policies and retirement plans? Now is as good a time as any to do so.
  
   
WEEKLY RIDDLE
            
You can separate them with a word, yet they are mostly inseparable. What are they?

  
Last week’s riddle:
What starts with P and ends with E and has thousands of letters in it? 
   
Last week’s answer:
A post office.




November 4, 2014
                       
Q3 GDP IMPRESSES, PERSONAL SPENDING DECLINES
Good news: America’s economy expanded 3.5% in the third quarter. The Commerce Department’s initial estimate topped the 3.1% consensus forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch, and offset September retreats in overall hard goods orders (1.3%) and personal spending (0.2%). Personal incomes rose 0.2% last month, the least since December; the dip in consumer spending was the first since January.1,2
        
CONSUMER SENTIMENT: A TRULY POSITIVE 12 MONTHS 
The Conference Board’s October consumer confidence index vaulted over analyst predictions with a 94.5 reading. A year ago, it was at 71.2. Rising 2.3 points during the month, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index came in at a final October mark of 86.9 (compare that with 73.2 in October 2013).3
       
BETTER NEWS FOR PENDING HOME SALES
They were up 0.3% in September, according to the National Association of Realtors. After a 1.0% dip for August, that headline was welcome. August’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed a 5.6% yearly overall gain in home values.1
       
RALLY CONTINUES, WITH HELP FROM JAPAN
As the Federal Reserve ended QE3, the Bank of Japan ramped up its easing efforts in a surprise announcement. This made the week even sweeter for investors, with the major indices logging the following 5-day gains: Dow, 3.48% to 17,390.52; S&P 500, 2.72% to 2,018.05; Nasdaq, 3.28% to 4,630.74. October 27-31 represented the Dow’s best week in two years.2,4  
       
THIS WEEK: ISM releases its October manufacturing PMI Monday; factory PMIs for China and the euro area also arrive, plus earnings news from Marathon Oil, Sprint, Alleghany, Nautilus, Herbalife and Loews. On Tuesday, September factory orders data complements earnings from Alibaba, Michael Kors, International Paper, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Motorola Solutions, Office Depot, Time, 21st Century Fox, WestJet and Valero Energy. Wednesday offers ISM’s service sector PMI, the latest ADP employment report and earnings from Tesla, Toyota, Sunoco, Tim Hortons, Zillow, News Corp., Chesapeake Energy and Whole Foods. Thursday, the October Challenger job-cuts report and the latest initial claims figures arrive, EU finance ministers meet and earnings emerge from Lions Gate Entertainment, Molson Coors, Orbitz, AOL, Wendy’s, Walt Disney and Zynga. The Labor Department issues its October jobs report Friday; in addition, Fed chair Janet Yellen speaks on monetary policy in Paris, and Scripps Co. and Humana present Q3 results.
  
% CHANGE
Y-T-D
1-YR CHG
5-YR AVG
10-YR AVG
DJIA
+4.91
+11.87
+15.81
+7.30
NASDAQ
+10.87
+18.14
+25.29
+13.39
S&P 500
+9.18
+14.89
+18.95
+7.85
REAL YIELD
10/31 RATE
1 YR AGO
5 YRS AGO
10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS
0.43%
0.40%
1.41%
1.67%
 

Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 10/31/145,6,7,8
Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly.
These returns do not include dividends.


Please feel free to forward this article to family, friends or colleagues.
If you would like us to add them to our distribution list, please reply with their address.
We will contact them first and request their permission to add them to our list.


«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 - marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic [10/31/14]
2 - foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/10/31/bank-japan-delivers-halloween-treat-for-wall-street/ [10/31/14]
3 - investing.com/economic-calendar/ [10/31/14]
4 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [10/31/14]
5 - markets.wsj.com/us [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F31%2F13&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F31%2F13&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F31%2F13&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F30%2F09&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F30%2F09&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F30%2F09&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=11%2F1%2F04&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=11%2F1%2F04&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]
6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=11%2F1%2F04&x=0&y=0 [10/31/14]         
7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [10/31/14]
8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [10/31/14]


No comments:

Post a Comment