Stocks indices ended the week with modest gains as job gains and manufacturing were strong in the month of July.

Treasury yields rose with the 30-year bond yield closing at 1.955% and the 10-Year note closing at 1.309%.  Crude oil fell to $68.10 a barrel and natural gas rose to $4.137 per MMBTUs.  The U.S. dollar index rose to 92.81 and gold fell to $1761.70 an ounce.

In the economic numbers this week:

• IHS Markit released purchasing manager indices for July.  Keep in mind that anything over 50 represents expansion and under 50 represents contraction.
  • U.S. manufacturing PMI rose from 62.1 in June to 63.4 in July.
  • U.S. services PMI fell from 64.6 in June to 59.9 in July.
  • Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell from 63.4 in June to 62.8 in July.
  • Eurozone composite PMI rose from 59.5 in June to 60.2 in July, the fastest acceleration since 2006.
  • China manufacturing PMI fell from 51.3 In June to 50.3 in July.
  • China services PMI rose from 50.3 in June to 54.9 in July.
  • Japan manufacturing PMI rose from 52.4 in June to 53.0 in July.
  • Japan services PMI fell from 48.0 in June to 47.4 in July.
  • Mexico manufacturing rose from 48.8 in June to 49.6 in July.
• The Labor Department reported: 
• Employers added a net of 943,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4%. This was an increase from the 938,000 jobs created in June.

• A seasonally adjusted 385,000 workers filed initial claims for unemployment in the week ending July 31^st, down 14,000 from a revised 399,000 the week before.
• The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, rose to 394,500.
• Continuing claims were 2.9MM down from a revised 3.3M in the week ending July 24^th.
• A broader measure of claims including extended benefits, pandemic assistance and other programs fell from 13.2MM to 13.0MM in the week ending July 17^th.
• For the full unemployment report go here: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf .
• The EIA weekly oil report is here: http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/wpsrsummary.pdf .  Also, the EIA reported in the prior week:
  • Field production of crude oil was unchanged at 11.2MMBPD.
  • Natural gas storage rose 13BN cubic feet and is below the 5 year average at this time of year.

• Baker Hughes reported the number of active oil rigs was 387.  The number of active natural gas was unchanged at 103.
• Factset reported with 89% of S&P500 companies reporting 2^nd quarter earnings, the blended earnings growth rate is 88.8% from the second quarter last year.

Please call us if you have any questions.

Loren C. Rex, CFP^®, MA                                                            Erik A Smith AIF^®

President                                                                                  Managing Partner

Generations Financial Planning & Wealth Management        269-441-4143

77 E. Michigan Ave, Suite 140

Battle Creek, MI  49017

Tel 269-441-4090

Carrie Fuce, Assistant 269-441-4091

Toll Free: 800-513-8180

Fax 866-381-2301

Visit our Website:  www.genfinplan.com

Registered Representative of and securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC.  Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor.  Cambridge and Generations Financial Planning & Wealth Management are separate companies and are not affiliated. 

These are the opinions of Loren Rex and Erik Smith and are not necessarily those of Cambridge, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice.  The Indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.