The Mark Lund Growth Report for Monday, October 26, 2015

EXISTING HOME SALES ACCELERATE
The National Association of Realtors measured a 4.7% gain in residential resales for September, and the annualized sales pace of 5.55 million units was the second best seen since February 2007. Over the past 12 months, existing home sales are up 8.8% with the average sale price up 6.1% (September’s median sale price was $221,900).1

MORE HOUSING STARTS IN SEPTEMBER
Last month saw a 6.5% increase in groundbreaking according to the Census Bureau. That brought the 12-month increase in housing starts to 17.5%. The rate of building permits issued fell by 5.0% in September, but that still left a 4.7% yearly gain.2

OIL & GOLD RETREAT
On the COMEX, gold settled at $1,162.80 Friday, marking a 1.7% weekly loss. WTI crude dropped 5.6% last week, settling Friday at $44.60 on the NYMEX.3

S&P TURNS POSITIVE YTD; NASDAQ BACK ABOVE 5,000
More easing by China’s central bank and strong earnings from tech giants helped equities. The Nasdaq rose 2.97% for the week to a Friday close of 5,031.86. The Dow rose 2.50% on the week to 17,646.70, the S&P 500 2.07% to 2,075.15.3,4

THIS WEEK: September new home sales figures arrive Monday, plus earnings from Cheesecake Factory, MGM Resorts and Xerox. Tuesday brings September’s durable goods report, August’s Case-Shiller home price index, the latest Conference Board consumer confidence index and earnings from Airgas, Anadarko Petroleum, Alibaba, Apple, Big 5, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coach, Comcast, Corning, Cummins, Express Scripts, Ford Motor Co., Edison International, JetBlue, Lexmark, Macerich, Magellan Health, Merck, NCR, Panera, Pfizer, Revlon, Spirit Airlines, T-Mobile, Twitter and Waste Management. A new Federal Reserve policy statement appears Wednesday plus earnings from Amgen, Anthem, AutoNation, Buffalo Wild Wings, Ferrari, General Dynamics, Garmin, GoPro, IMAX, Hanesbrands, HealthSouth, Hershey, Hilton Worldwide, LifeLock, Marriott, PG&E, Norfolk Southern, O’Reilly, Public Storage, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Tesoro, Valero, Western Digital and Yelp. Thursday offers the first estimate of Q3 GDP, a new initial claims report, and earnings from Aetna, Altria, Baidu, Coca-Cola, ConocoPhillips, Electronic Arts, Expedia, Fluor, LinkedIn, Live Nation, MasterCard, Starbucks, Sherwin-Williams, Time Warner Cable, Virgin America and Western Union. Friday, new personal spending figures and October’s final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index are out, plus earnings from Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, CVS Health, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Seagate and Weyerhaeuser.

% CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG
DJIA -0.99 +5.81 +11.70 +6.99
NASDAQ +6.25 +13.00 +20.59 +13.78
S&P 500 +0.79 +6.37 +15.08 +7.30
REAL YIELD 10/23 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS 0.58% 0.38% 0.50% 1.93%

Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 10/23/155,6,7,8
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.

WEEKLY QUOTE

“Rules too soft are seldomly followed; rules too harsh are seldomly executed.”

– Ben Franklin

WEEKLY TIP

In retirement, one of your goals should be to grow your assets faster than inflation devalues them. You must sustain your purchasing power.

WEEKLY RIDDLE

Robert will paint unit numbers on 100 storage units today. In the course of painting a number from 1 to 100 on the door of each unit, how many times will he have to paint the numeral 3 today?

Last week’s riddle:
Until it is measured it is not accurately known, yet you may miss it when it has flown. What is it?

Last week’s answer:
Time.

Citations.
1 – cnbc.com/2015/10/22/existing-home-sales-hit-555m-units-in-sept-vs-expectations-of-538m.html [10/22/15]
2 – 247wallst.com/housing/2015/10/20/housing-starts-rose-less-than-expected-in-september/ [10/20/15]
3 – 247wallst.com/investing/2015/10/23/the-4-stocks-that-dominated-the-dow-on-friday/ [10/23/15]
4 – markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [10/23/15]
5 – markets.wsj.com/us [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F23%2F14&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F23%2F14&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F23%2F14&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F22%2F10&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F22%2F10&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F22%2F10&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F24%2F05&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F24%2F05&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F24%2F05&x=0&y=0 [10/23/15]
7 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [10/23/15]
8 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [10/23/15]

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. 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. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. 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. This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., for Mark Lund, Mark is known as The 401k Advisor, Investor Coach, The Financial Advisor, The Financial Planner and author of The Effective Investor. Mark offers investment advisory services through Stonecreek Wealth Advisors, Inc. an independent, fee-only, Registered Investment Advisor firm providing 401k consulting for small businesses and financial Advisor services for professional athletes and individuals. Stonecreek is located in Salt Lake City, Murray, West Jordan, Sandy, Draper, South Jordan, Provo, Orem, Lehi, Highland, Alpine, and American Fork in Utah.

Category: Blog, Growth Report