Growth Report – Monday, April 24, 2017

EXISTING HOME SALES HIT A 10-YEAR PEAK
Rising 4.4% for March, resales surpassed expectations – analysts polled by Reuters projected a gain of 2.5%. The National Association of Realtors said that sales were 5.9% improved from a year before, and that put them at their best level since February 2007, even with existing home inventory 6.6% slimmer than in March 2016.1

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY WANES
Department of Commerce data showed a 6.8% reduction in housing starts in March. Even with that fall, starts were up 9.2% in 12 months. Building permits rose 3.6% last month, resulting in a 17.0% annualized increase.2

LIGHT SWEET CRUDE SLIDES 7% IN 5 TRADING DAYS
WTI crude settled at $49.62 Friday, 7.4% below where it had closed a week earlier. One influence was a Baker Hughes report showing that the number of active rigs had increased for a fourteenth consecutive week.3

STOCKS END CHOPPY WEEK HIGHER
Five days of rollercoastering ultimately sent the S&P 500 to a 0.85% weekly gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite respectively advanced 0.46% and 1.82% in the same stretch. At Friday’s close, the Dow settled at 20,547.76; the S&P, at 2,348.69; and the Nasdaq, at 5,910.52.4

THIS WEEK: Monday, earnings arrive from Coach, Express Scripts, Halliburton, Hasbro, Kimberly-Clark, Newmont Mining, and T. Rowe Price. The Conference Board’s April consumer confidence index, the February S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, and March new home sales data appear Tuesday, along with earnings from 3M, AT&T, Baker Hughes, Biogen, Capital One, Caterpillar, Chubb, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly, Fifth Third, Freeport-McMoRan, McDonald’s, Northern Trust, Novartis, and Xerox. On Wednesday, the earnings lineup includes Alaska Air, Amgen, Anthem, Boeing, Credit Suisse, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Equifax, GlaxoSmithKline, Hershey, Ingersoll-Rand, Norfolk Southern, O’Reilly Auto Parts, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Rockwell Automation, State Street, and T-Mobile. Earnings from Alphabet, Amazon, American Airlines, Comcast, Dow Chemical, Expedia, Ford Motor Co., MGM Resorts, Microsoft, Parker-Hannifin, Southwest Airlines, Under Armour, and Western Digital all roll out Thursday, complementing reports on initial jobless claims and March durable goods orders and housing contract activity. Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Phillips 66, UBS Group AG, and Weyerhaeuser issue earnings news Friday, as investors also consider the federal government’s first estimate of Q1 growth and the University of Michigan’s final April consumer sentiment index.

% CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG
DJIA +3.97 +14.27 +11.54 +5.85
NASDAQ +9.80 +19.50 +19.40 +13.40
S&P 500 +4.91 +12.30 +14.08 +5.82
REAL YIELD 4/21 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS 0.40% 0.24% -0.24% 2.27%

Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 4/21/174,5,6,7
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.

WEEKLY QUOTE

“Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

WEEKLY TIP

Poor documentation can be an Achilles heel for a small business. Storing invoices, bank statements, credit notes, and other financial documents in one place is vital, be it a file cabinet or a digital vault.

WEEKLY RIDDLE

They can hear you, you can touch them, but they will never see you. What are they?

Last week’s riddle:
Rick was born on December 4th, yet he claims his birthday always occurs in the summer. How is this possible?

Last week’s answer:
He was born in the Southern Hemisphere.

Citations.
1 – reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSKBN17N1QU [4/21/17]
2 – marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-fall-7-but-permits-pick-up-the-slack-in-march-2017-04-18 [4/18/17]
3 – foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/21/oil-ends-under-50-as-signs-rising-us-output-cast-doubts-over-opec-cut-extension.html [4/21/17]
4 – markets.wsj.com/us [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F21%2F16&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F21%2F16&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F21%2F16&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F20%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F20%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F20%2F12&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F20%2F07&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F20%2F07&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F20%2F07&x=0&y=0 [4/21/17]
6 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [4/21/17]
7 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [4/21/17]

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 a Wealth Advisor, 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 investment and retirement planning for individuals and 401k consulting for small businesses. Stonecreek is located in Salt Lake City, Murray City, West Jordan City, Sandy City, Draper City, South Jordan City, Provo City, Orem City, Lehi City, Highland City, Alpine City, and American Fork City in Utah.

Category: Blog, Growth Report