Major indices ended the holiday shortened week mixed with most indices up slightly and the Nasdaq composite down slightly.
Treasury bond yields fell with the 30-year bond yield at 4.346% and the 10-Year note at 4.205%. Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.79%. Crude oil rose to $83.12 a barrel and natural gas fell to $1.752 per MMBTUs. The U.S. dollar index rose to 104.54 and gold rose to $2254.80 an ounce.
In economic reports this week:
- The S&P Corelogic Case Shiller national home price index fell 0.1% in January. From last January, the index was up 6.03%.
- The Commerce Department reported:
- New home sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in the month of February but are up 5.9% from last February.
- New home sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in the month of February but are up 5.9% from last February.
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- Durable goods orders rose 1.4% in February after falling 6.9% in January.
- Durable goods orders rose 1.4% in February after falling 6.9% in January.
- 4th quarter gross domestic product was revised upwards to 3.4% annualized gain, up from 3.2% at the previous revision. The increase was due to upward revisions to consumer spending and nonresidential fixed investment, that were partly offset by a downward revision to private inventory investment.
- Personal consumption rose 0.2% in January in current dollars.
- Personal incomes rose 1.0% in January up from 0.3% in December.
- The PCE price index rose 0.3% in January and is up 2.4% from last January.
- While the month of January rose from the 0.1% in December, the year over year amount dropped from 2.6% in December.
- Excluding volatile food and energy the PCE price index rose 0.4% and is up 2.8% from a year ago.
- This is the FED’s preferred measure of inflation.
- The Labor Department reported:
- Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, was 211,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised level.
- For the full unemployment report go here: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf .
- Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
- 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 13.1MM BPD.
- Natural gas storage fell 36BN cubic feet and was above the highest level during the past five years at this time of year.
- Baker Hughes reported the number of oil rigs fell 3 to 506 and the number of natural gas rigs was unchanged at 112.
Please call us if you have any questions.
Loren Rex – Emeritus
Erik A Smith, AIF® – President & C.E.O.
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. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexes. The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index that includes almost all stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange (more than 2500 stocks).
Sources:
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W
https://ir.eia.gov/ngs/ngs.html
https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
https://www.wsj.com/market-data?mod=nav_top_subsection
