Lower energy costs drove U.S. producer and consumer monthly prices down in April. The CPI fell 0.4% in the month of April and rose 1.1% for the 12 months ended in April. Producer prices also declined. Energy prices fell 4.3% and gasoline prices fell 8.1% in April. Housing starts dropped 16.5% during the month, and […]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reached all‐time highs last week, 1,634 and 15,118 respectively, on favorable employment and housing news. Weekly initial jobless claims fell 4,000 to 323,000, the lowest level since January 2008. The four‐week rolling average declined by 6,250 to 336,750, its lowest since November 2007. Fannie Mae said it […]

Earnings seasons and unemployment results were the major news bits for the week. With 80% of S&P 500 companies reporting, results have been uninspiring as sales have fallen 1.4% and earnings increased 2.4%. April jobs report produced a gain of 165,000 (140,000 forecasted), to bring the unemployment rate to 7.5%, the lowest level since 2008. […]

China’s GDP grew 7.7% year‐over‐year in the first quarter, an unexpected slowing and down from 7.9% in the final quarter of 2012. Because of wide‐scale global weakness, investors responded by selling off stocks and commodities, including gold, silver and copper. The price of a barrel of oil fell to $88. Gold futures tumbled more than […]

U.S. economic data was mixed last week. Initial unemployment claims decreased 42,000 to 346,000 for the week ended April 6th. However, retail sales for March fell 0.4% compared to an expected decline of 0.1%. The S&P 500 Index gained 2.29% and the DJIA rose 2.06%, both new highs. All S&P 500 Index sectors were positive. […]

Equities posted gains in a shortened week due to the Easter holiday. The S&P 500 Index gained 0.79% and the DJIA rose 0.46% last week. Telecommunications was the only negative sector for the week with a -0.05% loss, while utilities and health care posted the largest gains, 2.47% and 1.76% respectively. The third and final […]

Equity markets again posted gains last week, as they have in 9 of the past 11 weeks with the US and Europe posting gains of approximately 0.6%. In fact, The DJIA posted gains in 10 consecutive days until finally taking a breather on Friday by easing 25 points to finish the week at 14,514. The […]

The Week in Review for the week ending March 1, 2013  Market volatility rose sharply after Italy’s weekend election results left a deep split in its government. The prospect of greater instability in the eurozone’s third-largest economy caused Italian and Spanish bond yields to spike and global stocks to plunge. However, European and US central […]

The Week in Review for the week ending February 22, 2013  Worries over a change in Federal Reserve policy and some mixed economic data brought an end to the S&P 500’s streak of seven weekly gains, but not before the Dow and S&P set new post-financial crisis highs and came within striking distance of the […]

The Week in Review for the week ending February 15, 2013  Price swings were relatively subdued during the week as positive economic data and enthusiasm over merger and acquisition activity seemed to balance out investors’ hesitation to bid stocks higher after two months of solid gains. More than $140 billion in merger and acquisition deals […]