Economic Update for the week of May 24th, 2017

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE
WEEKLY QUOTE               “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”      - Jim Rohn           WEEKLY TIP               Some businesses offer their workers life insurance coverage of 1x-3x salary as part of a group benefits package. This is usually insufficient coverage for all but the youngest employees. If your company offers you no option of any additional coverage, explore buying a policy for yourself.            WEEKLY RIDDLE             What four U.S. states have names that start and end with the same vowel?     Last week’s riddle: I am an 8-letter word beginning with s and ending with g, you can make 7 more words by subtracting one letter at a time from me. What word am I?        Last week’s answer: STARTING: Starting-Staring-String-Sting-Sing-Sin-In-I.	May 24, 2017    CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY SLOWED IN APRIL Against expectations, both housing starts and building permits declined in the fourth month of the year. Newly released Census Bureau data shows a 2.5% retreat for permits and a 2.6% pullback for starts last month. The key factors: a 9.2% drop in starts for multi-family projects (which have declined for four straight months) and a 4.5% fall for single-family permits.1         INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT SURGES Economists polled by Briefing.com expected industrial production to rise 0.3% in April, following a 0.4% advance in March. The number surprised to the upside – the Federal Reserve reported a 1.0% improvement.2   GOLD & WTI CRUDE STAGE MAJOR RALLIES As both stocks and the dollar hit a rough patch last week, investors turned to commodities. Gold advanced 2.1% on the COMEX in five trading days, settling at $1,253.60 Friday. Oil gained a little more than 5% for the week to a Friday close of $50.33 on the belief that OPEC would extend its current production cut.3,4    STOCKS FINISH A CHOPPY WEEK LOWER Wall Street took a plunge Wednesday on political concerns, then rebounded for two days. Still, all three major indices saw 5-day retreats. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.61%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 0.44%; and the S&P 500, 0.38%. Friday, the big three settled as follows: Dow, 20,804.84; S&P, 2,381.73; Nasdaq, 6,083.70.5   THIS WEEK: On Monday, earnings results roll in from Agilent Technologies, America’s Car-Mart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sportsman’s Warehouse, and Valspar. Tuesday, the April new home sales report complements earnings news from AutoZone, Container Store, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, DSW, Intuit, Kirkland’s, Popeyes, Take-Two Interactive, and Toll Brothers. On Wednesday, existing home sales numbers appear along with minutes from this month’s Federal Reserve policy meeting and earnings from Advance Auto Parts, Chico’s FAS, Fred’s, Guess?, HP, Lowe’s, Sears Holdings, and Williams-Sonoma. A new initial claims report arrives Thursday, plus earnings news from Abercrombie & Fitch, Best Buy, Burlington Stores, Costco, Dollar Tree, GameStop, Hormel Foods, Lions Gate, Medtronic, Shoe Carnival, and Toro. Friday offers the second estimate of first quarter GDP, the final May University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, data on April hard goods orders, and Q1 results from Big Lots.     % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA +5.27 +19.33 +13.64 +5.35 NASDAQ +13.01 +29.10 +23.79 +13.78 S&P 500 +6.38 +16.75 +16.78 +5.64 REAL YIELD 5/19 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.41% 0.29% -0.39% 2.46%   Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov - 5/19/175,6,7,8 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. The information herein has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. 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 market indices discussed are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. Indices do not incur management fees, costs and expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a 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 a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. 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. MarketingPro, Inc. is not affiliated with any person or firm that may be providing this information to you. 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 - businessinsider.com/us-housing-starts-and-building-permits-fall-in-april-2017-5 [5/16/17] 2 - briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2017/05/15-19 [5/19/17] 3 - marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-climb-more-than-2-for-the-week-2017-05-19 [5/19/17] 4 - marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-score-a-more-than-5-advance-for-the-week-2017-05-19 [5/19/17] 5 - markets.wsj.com/us [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F19%2F16&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F19%2F16&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F19%2F16&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F18%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F18%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F18%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F18%2F07&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F18%2F07&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 6 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F18%2F07&x=0&y=0 [5/19/17] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [5/19/17] 8 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [5/19/17]