WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE WEEKLY QUOTE “Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.” - Eleanor Roosevelt WEEKLY TIP Think about putting one-third or one-half of the pay raises you get in future years into your workplace retirement plan. WEEKLY RIDDLE Each morning, I show up at your feet, yet at midday I nearly retreat. No matter how fast you move, I follow. What am I? Last week’s riddle: It sits when it stands. It walks in jumps. It can grow up to 8 tall. What is it? Last week’s answer: A kangaroo. February 17, 2014 FREEZING TEMPERATURES COOL RETAIL SALES While the fourth quarter saw the strongest consumer spending in 3 years, the pace of retail purchases slowed last month. The Commerce Department reported a 0.4% drop in retail sales in January, and it revised December’s gain of 0.2% to a loss of 0.1%. Severe cold, reduced hiring and the end of long-term unemployment benefits were likely influences. There was one bit of reassurance in the Commerce Department’s report: minus auto buying, retail sales were actually flat last month.1 CONSUMER SENTIMENT IS UNCHANGED The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for February came in at 81.2, precisely where it had finished January. Analysts polled by Briefing had expected it to decline a full point.2 GOLD FUTURES HIT A 3-MONTH HIGH Bearish sentiment (and dissatisfying economic indicators) encouraged a rally in precious metals last week. Gold gained 4.4% on the COMEX in five days to settle at $1,318.60 Friday – a level unseen since Halloween. Silver futures climbed 7.5% on the week to $21.42, the best price since early November. Copper futures gained 0.6% last week, platinum futures 3.7% and palladium futures 4.1%.3 WALL STREET PULLS OUT OF ITS SLUMP Stocks really turned around last week, as these five-day index performances attest: DJIA, +2.45% to 16,154.39; NASDAQ, +2.83% to 4,244.02; S&P 500, +2.46% to 1,838.63.4 THIS WEEK: Monday is Presidents’ Day, so the NYSE and NASDAQ are closed as well as the U.S. bond market; Revlon and OfficeMax will announce Q4 results. Tuesday, earnings roll in from Blackrock, Medtronic, Panera, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Waste Management and Herbalife, and the February NAHB housing market index arrives. On Wednesday, the minutes of the January Fed policy meeting will be released, along with the January PPI and data on January housing starts and building permits; HealthSouth, MGM, Safeway, Tesla Motors, Spirit Airlines, Marriott, Denny’s and Jack in the Box all issue earnings reports. Thursday brings the Conference Board’s January leading indicators index, the January CPI and earnings from BBVA, DirecTV, Hormel, Newmont Mining, Leap Wireless, Wal-Mart, Priceline, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit and Groupon. Existing home sales numbers for January are released Friday, along with earnings from Charter Communications and DISH Network. % CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG DJIA -2.55 +15.61 +21.16 +5.20 NASDAQ +1.61 +32.68 +35.32 +10.67 S&P 500 -0.53 +20.85 +24.47 +6.05 REAL YIELD 2/14 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO 10 YR TIPS 0.59% -0.56% 1.68% 1.74% Sources: USATODAY, bigcharts, treasury.gov - 2/14/145,6,7,8 Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 14:20:28 +0000