Economic Update for the week of July 26th, 2016

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE               “Never harbor grudges; they sour your stomach and do no harm to anyone else.”      - Robertson Davies           WEEKLY TIP               Some parents spend thousands of dollars each year in support of their children’s athletic pursuits. Reducing such expenses could be wise; the money saved could go toward college tuition or retirement.          WEEKLY RIDDLE              Take the number 3 and add another number 3, and you get 6 … but how can you get 8 from a pair of threes?    Last week’s riddle: Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?       Last week’s answer: Yesterday, today and tomorrow.	July 26, 2016    GAINS IN HOME BUYING & HOUSING STARTS June brought a 1.1% rise in existing home sales. Analysts, polled by the Wall Street Journal, had forecast a 0.7% decline. In its new report, the National Association of Realtors said 33% of June sales involved first-time buyers, which was a 4-year peak. New Department of Commerce data showed housing starts up 4.8% last month.1   SOME EARLY EARNINGS SEASON NUMBERS According to the latest Zacks Earnings Trend report, 68.9% of 103 S&P 500 companies reporting so far this season have beaten estimates and 56.3% have topped revenue projections. Zacks now forecasts a 3.6% year-over-year decline in earnings for S&P member firms, better than its 6.2% appraisal of two weeks ago.2    A DOWN WEEK FOR OIL & GOLD FUTURES Wrapping up the week at a NYMEX price of $44.19, WTI crude slipped 3.8% across the five trading days ending Friday. Gold futures gave back 0.3% last week on the COMEX, settling Friday at $1,323.40.3,4   AGING BULL SHOWS CONTINUED STRENGTH All three U.S. benchmarks posted gains last week. During July 18-22, the S&P 500 rose 0.61% to 2,175.03; the Nasdaq Composite, 1.40% to 5,100.16; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 0.29% to 18,570.85.5     THIS WEEK: On Monday, Celanese, CoreLogic, Express Scripts, Gilead Sciences, Kimberly-Clark, Smith Micro, Sprint, and Texas Instruments announce earnings. June new home sales data, July’s Conference Board consumer confidence index, and May’s Case-Shiller home price index arrive Tuesday, plus earnings from 3M, Ally Financial, Ameriprise Financial, Anadarko Petroleum, Apple, Avery Dennison, Caterpillar, Chubb, Citrix, Eli Lilly, Freeport-McMoRan, JetBlue, McDonald’s, Panera, Sirius XM, Twitter, U.S. Steel, Valero Energy, and Verizon. Wednesday, a Federal Reserve policy meeting wraps up; Wall Street also considers June pending home sales and capital goods orders and earnings from Altria, Amgen, Anthem, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Exelon, Facebook, Garmin, GlaxoSmithKline, Goodyear, GoPro, Hilton, Ingersoll-Rand, Marriott, NextEra Energy, Noble Corp., Northrop Grumman, Owens Corning, Public Storage, Ryder, Six Flags, T-Mobile, and Waste Management. Thursday’s earnings parade includes Aflac, Alphabet, Amazon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, ConocoPhillips, Dow Chemical, Edison International, Expedia, Hershey, Marathon Petroleum, MasterCard, Raytheon, and Virgin America. Friday offers the first Q2 GDP estimate, July’s final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, and earnings from Chevron, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Spirit Airlines, UPS, and Xerox.   % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +6.58 +4.03 +9.29 +7.09 NASDAQ +1.85 -1.38 +15.68 +15.24 S&P 500 +6.41 +2.88 +12.34 +7.53 REAL YIELD 7/22 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.06% 0.53% 0.61% 2.49%   Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 7/22/165,6,7,8 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.
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Economic Update for the week of July 19th, 2016

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE               “The only way most people recognize their limits is by trespassing on them.”      - Tom Morris           WEEKLY TIP               Young adults who consider debt consolidation should weigh the pros and cons of the idea. Lower monthly payments might free up more cash for saving and investing. Extending a credit card balance for decades, though, may cost a borrower much more in the long run.           WEEKLY RIDDLE              Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?    Last week’s riddle: At times I’m high and low, I never fly but I can rise, and I can creep between your toes. What am I?       Last week’s answer: The tide.	July 19, 2016    Two SIGNS OF A STRONGER ECONOMY Retail sales improved 0.6% in June, according to the Commerce Department, and the core gain was 0.7% with auto buying and home improvement purchases factored out. Industrial production rose 0.6% in June, making up for a 0.3% May loss. Both indicators could be taken as hints of solid second-quarter growth.1 CORE INFLATION IS OUTPACING HEADLINE INFLATION In the year ending in June, the headline Consumer Price Index increased just 1.0%. According to the Department of Labor, the average 12-month gain in the past decade is 1.7%. The yearly gain in the core CPI, however, was 2.3% in June; it has averaged 1.9% in the past 10 years. June also saw a 0.5% gain for the Producer Price Index.1,2    SENTIMENT INDEX FALLS 4 POINTS The drop in the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment index seemed to reflect anxiety over the Brexit vote; 24% of households with upper-tier incomes cited it in their survey responses. The preliminary July edition of the index came in at 89.5, down from the final June mark of 93.5. Economists polled by MarketWatch had anticipated a 92.5 reading.3   MAJOR INDICES KEEP CLIMBING Less than a month after the Brexit vote disrupted global markets, both the Dow and S&P 500 reached historic peaks. Across five trading days, the Dow rose 2.04% to a new record close of 18,516.55. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq, respectively, advanced 1.49% and 1.47% for the week to Friday settlements of 2,161.74 and 5,029.59. The S&P closed at four straight all-time highs Monday through Thursday.4,5     THIS WEEK: Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Hasbro, IBM, J.B. Hunt, Netflix, and Yahoo! all present earnings Monday. Tuesday, investors will review June housing starts and building permits and earnings from Discover, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Philip Morris International, Regions Financial, TD Ameritrade, United Continental Holdings, and UnitedHealth. Wednesday, earnings emerge from Abbott Labs, American Express, eBay, Halliburton, IMAX, Intel, Mattel, Morgan Stanley, Newmont Mining, Qualcomm, Raymond James, St. Jude Medical, and United Rentals. Thursday, Wall Street looks at June existing home sales plus earnings from Alaska Air, AT&T, BONY Mellon, Biogen, Boise Cascade, Chipotle, DISH Network, Domino’s, Dunkin’ Brands, E*TRADE, General Motors, PayPal, Quest Diagnostics, Sherwin-Williams, Skechers, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Travelers, Union Pacific, and VISA. American Airlines, GE, Honeywell International, and Whirlpool report earnings Friday.   % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +6.26 +2.58 +9.67 +7.24 NASDAQ +0.44 -1.36 +16.06 +14.69 S&P 500 +5.76 +2.58 +12.85 +7.49 REAL YIELD 7/15 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.11% 0.52% 0.61% 2.50%   Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 7/15/164,6,7,8 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.
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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 - investing.com/economic-calendar/ [7/15/16] 2 - cnbc.com/2016/07/15/us-consumer-price-index-june-2016.html [7/15/16] 3 - marketwatch.com/story/rich-americans-say-they-were-rattled-by-brexit-driving-consumer-sentiment-lower-in-july-2016-07-15/ [7/15/16] 4 - markets.wsj.com/us [7/15/16] 5 - usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/07/15/stocks-dow-friday/87121654/ [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F15%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F15%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F15%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F15%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F15%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F15%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F14%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F14%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F14%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/15/16]              7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [7/15/16] 8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [7/15/16]

Economic Update for the week of July 14th, 2016

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE               “Set up as an ideal the facing of reality as honestly and as cheerfully as possible.”      - Karl Menninger           WEEKLY TIP               Credit reporting agencies may lower your credit score if you rely heavily on installment-type accounts or loans linked to appliance or home goods retailers, or unsecured personal loans from consumer credit companies. You should pay off such debt as quickly as possible.             WEEKLY RIDDLE              At times I’m high and low, I never fly but I can rise, and I can creep between your toes. What am I?    Last week’s riddle: How can you make a sofa, a motorcycle and a tent liquid?       Last week’s answer: Sell them.	July 14, 2016    A REASSURING JOBS REPORT June was the best month for hiring since October. Employers added 287,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month; analysts polled by Bloomberg forecast a gain of 180,000. The headline unemployment rate rose to 4.9% in the Department of Labor’s latest report, a reflection of more Americans looking for work. The broader U-6 rate, including the underemployed, fell a tenth of a point to 9.6%.1   STRONG SERVICE SECTOR GROWTH IN JUNE Rising 3.6 points, the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing purchasing manager index came in at a June mark of 56.5. The index was last above 56 in November. Referencing the past relationship between the index and the overall health of the economy in its summary, ISM noted that a 56.5 reading for its services PMI has corresponded with annualized GDP growth of about 3.0%.2    A 6-WEEK Winning STREAK FOR GOLD The yellow metal rose another 1.5% last week, closing at a COMEX price of $1,358.40. Silver has also advanced for six consecutive weeks on the COMEX; it closed at $20.10 Friday, rising 2.6% in four days.3   S&P 500 CLOSES JUST SHY OF ALL-TIME HIGH Settling at 2,129.90 Friday, the index briefly surpassed its May 2015 record close of 2,130.82 in intraday trading. The index gained 1.27% during the abbreviated market week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added on 1.08% in four days to a July 8 close of 18,146.74, while the Nasdaq Composite improved 1.92% to end the week at 4,956.76. The past four trading days were not good for WTI crude – futures lost 7.3% in that span to a NYMEX close of $45.41 Friday.4,5     THIS WEEK: Earnings season starts Monday with Alcoa reporting Q2 results. Tuesday offers earnings news from Fastenal and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Wednesday brings a new Federal Reserve Beige Book and earnings from CSX, Kinder Morgan, and Yum! Brands. Thursday, the June PPI and the latest initial jobless claims report complement earnings from BlackRock, Cintas, Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase, and Progressive. On Friday, investors will interpret the June CPI, June industrial output and retail sales numbers, the initial July University of Michigan consumer sentiment index and earnings from Citigroup, U.S. Bancorp, and Wells Fargo.   % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +4.14 +3.60 +8.67 +6.36 NASDAQ -1.01 +0.96 +14.66 +13.27 S&P 500 +4.21 +4.07 +11.70 +6.83 REAL YIELD 7/8 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS -0.06% 0.40% 0.75% 2.55%   Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 7/8/166,7,8,9 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 - csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2016/0708/Jobs-report-A-relief-after-disappointing-May-politically-turbulent-June/ [7/8/16] 2 - instituteforsupplymanagement.org/ismreport/nonmfgrob.cfm [7/6/16] 3 - marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-notch-sixth-straight-weekly-gain-2016-07-08 [7/8/16] 4 - cnbc.com/2016/07/08/us-markets.html [7/8/16] 5 - google.com/finance?q=INDEXSP:.INX&ei=zRSAV-CVGIWaiQLo_bLYCg [7/8/16] 6 - markets.wsj.com/us [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F8%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F8%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F8%2F15&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F8%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F8%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F8%2F11&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F7%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F7%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 7 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F7%2F06&x=0&y=0 [7/8/16] 8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [7/8/16] 9 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [7/8/16]