Blog Post

US Stocks rose this week driven by strong earnings.  So far 79% of companies have beaten their earnings estimates.  Ebola fears have subsided as no new cases have emerged from those potentially exposed in Texas.  Fears of an European slowdown also subsided as manufacturing and services picked up in September.

  • The National Association of Realtors reported that US Existing Home Sales increased 2.4%in September beating expectations.
  • The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose only 0.1% in September.  Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors consumer prices also rose 0.1%.  Year over year consumer prices rose 1.7% both including and excluding food and energy.
  • The Labor Department also reported that initial jobless claims in the previous week rose by 17,000 to 283,000 in the prior week.  Claims in the week before that were revised up 2,000 to 266,000.  The four week moving average intended to smooth out week to week fluctuations fell to 281,000 its lowest level since May 2000.
  • The European Purchasing Managers Index that measures manufacturing and services increased from 52.0 to 52.2 in September.
  • Housing prices have fallen in China by 1.1% over the past year.
  • China’s 3rd quarter gross domestic product rose at an annual pace of 7.3% in third quarter it’s slowest pace in five years.

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