Weekly Economic Update for July 31, 2017
Main Street Financial Presents:
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WEEKLY QUOTE
“Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug.”
- John Lithgow
WEEKLY TIP
Are you short on retirement savings? One response may be to work longer. Even part-time work could lessen the pressure to draw down your retirement assets.
WEEKLY RIDDLE
They had weight in their stomachs, tall trees on their backs, nails in their ribs, yet feet they lacked. The world saw thousands of them centuries ago. What were they?
Last week’s riddle: After badly losing an away game, a college football team doesn’t want their coach to come in and yell at them, so they put 1,000 pounds of weights against a locker room door to prevent him from opening it. He comes in and yells at them face-to-face anyway. Why are they unable to keep him from coming through the doorway?
Last week’s answer: The door opens outward.
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July 31, 2017
HOUSEHOLDS ARE FEELING OPTIMISTIC Unemployment is at a 16-year low, and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index is near a 16-year high. It reached 121.1 in July, rising 3.8 points; analysts polled by MarketWatch expected a reading of 116.9. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 93.4.1,2
HAVE HOME SALES REACHED A PLATEAU? Last week, the National Association of Realtors announced a 1.8% June retreat for existing home sales. New home buying only advanced 0.8% for June by Census Bureau calculations. Analysts point to tight supply limiting resales and a scarcity of affordably priced new developments discouraging new home shoppers.3
GROWTH PICKED UP IN THE SECOND QUARTER According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.6% in Q2, with the yearly personal spending rate at 2.8%. As it presented its Q2 estimate, the BEA also revised Q1 consumer spending up from 1.1% to 1.9%.2
The DOW LEADS THE WAY ON WALL STREET Ascending 1.16% in five days, the Dow Industrials closed at 21,830.24 Friday. In contrast, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite staged minor weekly retreats. The S&P declined 0.02% to 2,472.08; the Nasdaq, 0.20% to 6,374.68.4
THIS WEEK: On Monday, NAR releases its June pending home sales index, and CNA Financial, Loews Corp., Pandora Media, and Papa John’s announce earnings. Tuesday offers earnings from Allstate, Apple, Archer Daniels Midland, Beazer Homes, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Cummins, Denny’s, Extended Stay America, HanesBrands, Herbalife, Pfizer, Phillips 66, Pitney Bowes, Sprint, Under Armour, Unisys, and Xerox, plus June consumer spending figures and ISM’s July factory PMI. A new ADP payrolls report appears Wednesday, along with earnings news from AmeriGas, AutoNation, Choice Hotels, Container Store, Cumulus Media, Energizer Holdings, Exelon, Fitbit, Garmin, Groupon, Humana, Icahn Enterprises, Marathon Oil, Square, Symantec, Take Two Interactive, Tesla, Time Warner, Transocean, and Vulcan Materials. On Thursday, investors review earnings from AMC Networks, Activision Blizzard, Aetna, Allergan, Avon, Berkshire Hathaway, Callaway Golf, Chesapeake Energy, Duke Energy, Fluor, GoPro, Hyatt, iHeartMedia, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz, Motorola, Noble Energy, Parker-Hannifin, RE/MAX Holdings, Shake Shack, TiVo, Viacom, Western Union, Wingstop, Wyndham Worldwide, Yelp, and Yum! Brands, plus new initial claims numbers and ISM’s July services PMI. The Department of Labor’s latest jobs report arrives Friday, along with earnings from Cigna, ITT, Revlon, and Sempra Energy.
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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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 - marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-back-near-16-year-high-2017-07-25 [7/25/17] 2 - investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/indexes-mostly-down-gop-health-failure-hurts-this-stock/ [7/28/17] 3 - foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/26/u-s-new-home-sales-edged-higher-in-june-update.html [7/26/17] 4 - markets.wsj.com/us [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F28%2F16&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F28%2F16&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F28%2F16&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F27%2F12&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=7%2F27%2F07&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=7%2F27%2F07&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 5 - bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=7%2F27%2F07&x=0&y=0 [7/28/17] 6 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [7/28/17] 7 - treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [7/28/17] |
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