Economic Update for the week of February 24th, 2015

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “Don’t rule out working with your hands. It does not preclude using your head.”       - Andy Rooney            WEEKLY TIP               If you are newly married, think about creating a joint savings or checking account to which you can both contribute each month. The money in the account can be used to pay for jointly incurred financial/household expenses.          WEEKLY RIDDLE              Katherine and Sterling each have the same amount of pears. How many pears does Katherine need to give Sterling so that Sterling has 10 more pears than she does?    Last week’s riddle: I am astonishingly light, but even the strongest person in the world can only hold me for a few minutes. What am I?      Last week’s answer: Air.	February 24, 2015                         GREECE DEAL, FED MINUTES REASSURE INVESTORS On Friday, Greece reached an agreement with eurozone finance ministers to extend its economic bailout through June. The four extra months of financial aid depend on reforms that the country will present to its creditors this week (they must be approved by April). Stateside, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting noted that most Fed officials favored “keeping the federal funds rate at its effective lower bound for a longer time,” which also pleased the markets.1,2     PRODUCER PRICES FALL BY MOST IN 5 YEARS Labor Department data showed an 0.8% dip in the Producer Price Index in January, the largest monthly decline since November 2009. Cheaper fuel costs were the major factor. The core PPI (minus food and energy prices) was flat year-over-year.2         LESS GROUNDBREAKING IN JANUARY The pace of housing starts slowed 2.0% last month – not surprising given the rough weather in much of the nation. January also saw building permits decline 0.7%. While the Commerce Department reported fewer single-family projects starting up, multi-family construction actually accelerated in the year’s opening month.2                STOCKS MOVE NORTH Solid gains occurred during a short trading week: DJIA, 0.94% to 18,140.44; NASDAQ, 2.02% to 4,955.97; S&P 500, 0.63% to 2,110.30. WTI crude fell 5.20% for the week, settling Friday at $49.91 a barrel; gold slipped 2.36% for the week to a Friday COMEX settlement of 1,199.10.3          THIS WEEK: The National Association of Realtors reports January existing home sales on Monday. Tuesday, Fed chair Janet Yellen begins two days of testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, and February’s Conference Board consumer confidence index, the December S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, a new reading on euro area inflation and earnings from Home Depot, Hertz Global, Comcast, Macy’s, First Solar, Domino’s, Hewlett-Packard and Office Depot arrive. Wednesday, investors assess the Census Bureau’s report on January new home buying, an HSBC factory PMI for China and earnings from Lowe’s, Campbell Soup, RBC, SodaStream, TJX, Target, Chesapeake Energy, Dollar Tree and Transocean. News items for Thursday include January’s CPI and durable goods orders, new initial claims figures and quarterly results from Sempra Energy, AMC Networks, Anheuser-Busch, Autodesk, Gap, Herbalife, J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, L Brands and Monster. On Friday, the second estimate of Q4 GDP arrives, plus the University of Michigan’s final February consumer sentiment index and NAR’s January pending home sales report.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +1.78 +12.44 +14.88 +6.82 NASDAQ +4.64 +16.13 +24.17 +14.07 S&P 500 +2.50 +14.70 +18.05 +7.56 REAL YIELD 2/20 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.38% 0.63% 1.52% 1.67%   Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 2/20/154,5,6,7 Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.
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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/kfx2gv2 [2/20/15] 2 - bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-18/factory-production-in-u-s-climbed-less-than-forecast-in-january [2/18/15] 3 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [2/20/15] 4 - markets.wsj.com/us [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F20%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F20%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F20%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F19%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F19%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F19%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F18%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F18%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F18%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/20/15]             6 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [2/20/15] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [2/20/15]

Economic Update for the week of February 19th, 2015

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.”       - B.F. Skinner            WEEKLY TIP               One fundamental rule about consumer debt: never arrange a loan that may outlast the life of whatever you are buying.          WEEKLY RIDDLE              I am astonishingly light, but even the strongest person in the world can only hold me for a few minutes. What am I?    Last week’s riddle: What 8-letter name would be cute and logical for a house cat living below the Mason-Dixon line?      Last week’s answer: Southpaw.	February 19, 2015                         RETAIL SALES DECREASE AGAIN Recently, economists have worried about a decline in household spending. The 0.8% fall for retail sales in January affirmed their anxieties. Consumers have certainly been buying less fuel, but even with gas purchases removed, there was still an 0.2% retreat. Headline retail sales have now sunk for consecutive months; earlier Commerce Department data showed an 0.9% falloff in December.1     HOUSEHOLD SENTIMENT INDEX DECLINES Did the rough weather blasting much of the nation affect the reading of the latest University of Michigan consumer sentiment index? Quite possibly. The final January edition came in at an 11-year high of 98.1, but February’s initial edition fell to 93.6 – and per region, the major declines came in the Midwest and Northeast.1            OIL ENDS THE WEEK WITH A RALLY Rising 3.1% in a day, WTI crude settled at $52.78 a barrel on the NYMEX Friday. Over on the COMEX, silver rose 3.6% on the week to $17.29 while gold slipped 0.6% across five days to $1.227.10.2                S&P 500 CLOSES AT A NEW RECORD HIGH Thanks to a 2.02% weekly ascent, the index settled at 2,096.99 Friday. Rising crude prices and signs of economic improvement in the euro area helped. Those factors also assisted the Dow and Nasdaq: the former gained 1.09% on the week, the latter 3.15%. Friday brought a close of 4,893.84 for the Nasdaq, 18,019.35 for the Dow.3          THIS WEEK: U.S. stock and bond markets are closed Monday for Presidents’ Day, but eyes will be on Europe as Greece formally asks to renegotiate its bailout. On Tuesday, earnings roll in from MGM Resorts, Goodyear, Medtronic, Waste Management, Norwegian Cruise Line, Agilent, Fossil, Jack in the Box, and Bridgestone. Wednesday, Wall Street looks at the minutes from the January Federal Reserve policy meeting, the latest Producer Price Index, data on January industrial output, building permits and housing starts and earnings from Fluor, Duke Energy,, Hilton, Avis Budget Group, SolarCity, Virgin America, Hyatt Hotels, Marathon Oil, Healthstream, Denny’s, Barrick Gold, Marriott and Garmin. The Conference Board’s January index of leading indicators arrives Thursday, plus a new initial claims report, earnings from Nestle, Wal-Mart, Priceline, Hormel, DirecTV, Boise Cascade, Clear Channel, Novatel, Noble Energy, Six Flags Entertainment, Newmont Mining, Public Storage and Nordstrom … and for the first time ever, minutes from a European Central Bank meeting (January 22). Friday sees earnings from Choice Hotels and Deere.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +1.10 +12.43 +15.68 +6.70 NASDAQ +3.33 +15.40 +24.83 +13.50 S&P 500 +1.85 +14.60 +19.00 +7.39 REAL YIELD 2/13 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.34% 0.56% 1.46% 1.54%   Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 2/13/154,5,6,7 Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.
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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/pfjbxc4 [2/13/15] 2 - proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/59878/gold-gains-05-to-1227-wti-rises-31-to-5278-59878.html [2/13/15] 3 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [2/13/15] 4 - markets.wsj.com/us [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F13%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F13%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F13%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F12%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F12%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F12%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F14%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F14%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F14%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/13/15]             6 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [2/13/15] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [2/13/15]

Economic Update for the week of February 10th, 2015

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE                “No problem is so formidable that you can’t walk away from it.”       - Charles M. Schulz            WEEKLY TIP               Student discounts abound. Urge your son or daughter to take advantage of every retail discount they can get with a campus ID card.          WEEKLY RIDDLE              What 8-letter name would be cute and logical for a house cat living below the Mason-Dixon line?    Last week’s riddle: A ship cruised out of the Pacific Ocean and into the Atlantic Ocean through the Panama Canal – but as it went through the Panama Canal, it didn’t travel east. How is this possible?      Last week’s answer: The Panama Canal runs northwest-southeast. Ships travel northwest through the canal to enter the Caribbean Sea (and the Atlantic Ocean).	February 10, 2015                         EMPLOYERS ADD 257,000 JOBS IN JANUARY That beat the 230,000 hires forecast in a MarketWatch consensus of analysts. Yes, the headline jobless rate actually rose 0.1% to 5.7% last month, and the total unemployment rate (U-6) rose for the first time in six months to 11.3% - but average hourly wages were up 0.5%, a striking shift after the 0.3% December decrease.1,2     ONE ISM PMI FALLS, ANOTHER RISES The Institute for Supply Management’s January factory PMI lost 1.6 points to come in at 53.5, while its January service sector index advanced 0.2 points to 56.7. Analysts polled by MarketWatch projected readings of 55.0 for the manufacturing gauge and 56.5 for the services gauge. In related news, the Federal Reserve said factory orders fell 3.4% in December, twice the November decline.1            CONSUMER SPENDING SANK IN DECEMBER December saw a welcome 0.3% gain in consumer incomes but also a 0.3% pullback in consumer spending – the largest monthly dip since 2009. The Commerce Department noted sizable December declines in car and truck sales – and less spending on gas and other fuels. The personal savings rate rose 0.6% to 4.9%.3                MOMENTUM RETURNS TO THE MARKET Oil rallied, hiring topped expectations and the euro area was poised to receive an economic stimulus, so big gains were the order of the week. The Dow soared 3.84% in five trading days, settling Friday at 17,824.29. The same stretch saw the Nasdaq climb 2.35% to 4,744.40 and the S&P 500 jump 3.03% to 2,055.47. Light sweet crude gained 8.84% last week in New York to reach $52.08 a barrel Friday; gold futures lost 3.62% on the COMEX.4          THIS WEEK: Monday, Wall Street reviews Q4 results from Loews Corp. and Hasbro. Tuesday brings data on December wholesale stockpiles plus earnings from CVS Health, Akamai, Dean Foods, LifeLock, Monster, Genworth, Kinross Gold, Molson Coors, Spirit Airlines, Starwood Hotels and Western Union. More earnings appear on Wednesday: Cisco, Tesla, Baidu, MetLife, Applied Materials, Panera, AOL, Cheesecake Factory, NetApp, Mosaic, Nvidia, PepsiCo, Owens Corning, Panera, Tesoro, Time Warner, TripAdvisor, Whole Foods and Zulily. January retail sales and December business inventories reports are out on Thursday, along with the latest initial jobless claims numbers and earnings from Coca-Cola, Avon, Apache, Groupon, Zynga, AIG, Boyd Gaming, CBS, Kellogg, Kraft Foods and Shutterfly. The University of Michigan’s initial February consumer sentiment index and earnings from J.M. Smucker and Red Robin complete the week on Friday.    % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +0.01 +14.05 +15.61 +6.63 NASDAQ +0.18 +16.94 +24.32 +12.79 S&P 500 -0.17 +15.90 +18.56 +7.10 REAL YIELD 2/6 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.24% 0.57% 1.32% 1.62%   Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 2/6/155,6,7,8 Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.
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 [2/6/15] 2 - tinyurl.com/nyfpnt2 [2/6/15] 3 - marketwatch.com/story/consumer-spending-posts-biggest-drop-since-2009-2015-02-02 [2/2/15] 4 - markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [2/6/15] 5 - markets.wsj.com/us [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F6%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F6%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F6%2F14&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F5%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F5%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F5%2F10&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=2%2F7%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=2%2F7%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=2%2F7%2F05&x=0&y=0 [2/6/15] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [2/6/15] 8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [2/6/15]