Despite a rally on Thursday, major stock indices ended the holiday shortened week little changed. 2022 has been the worst year for the S&P 500 since 2008, but follows stellar moves up in 2020 and 2021.
Vladimir Putin banned the sale of oil to countries that would be subject to the $60 price cap. It is uncertain how this will affect global energy markets as most of the countries participating in the cap have already banned the import of Russian crude. Russia currently sells oil for less than $60 a barrel to China, India and Turkey which are not participating in the $60 cap.
We learned that the Secure 2.0 act will allow holders of 529 College Savings Accounts to roll these over to Roth IRAs tax and penalty free beginning in 2024. This was intended to encourage more contributions to 529 accounts as some people worry about unspent funds being taxable and subject to penalties. The rollover will be in lieu of Roth contributions. The rollover amount will be limited to the eligible Roth contribution amount for the account owner and no more than $35,000 over a lifetime.
Treasury bond yields rose with the 30-year bond at 3.927% and the 10-Year note at 3.880%. 30-year mortgage rates rose to 6.42%. Crude oil rose to $80.51 a barrel and natural gas fell to $4.081 per MMBTUs. The U.S. dollar index fell to 103.49 and gold rose to $1830.10 an ounce.
- The National Association of Realtors reported home values fell 0.5% in October but are up 9.2% from last October. This is down from the 10.7% year over year increase in September.
- The Labor Department reported:
- Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 225,000, up from a revised 216,000 in the prior week.
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- The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, was 221,000 down from a revised 221,250 in the prior week.
- For the full unemployment report go here: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf .
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- 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 fell from 12.1MM to 12.0MM BPD.
- Natural gas storage fell 213BN cubic feet and is slightly below the 5-year average at this time of year.
- Baker Hughes reported the number of active oil rigs fell 1 to 621. The number of active natural gas rigs rose 1 to 156.
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Loren C. Rex, CFP®, MA Erik A Smith, AIF®
Founder / Emeritus President & C.E.O. 269-441-4143 517-795-2025
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.
