Major stock indices ended the week with modest gains driven mostly by earnings news and despite weaker existing home sales and durable goods orders.  Developed international stocks had the largest gains.  Durable goods orders have been fluctuating wildly, both positively and negatively in the last four months on changing tariff policy.

Treasury bond yields fell with the 30-year bond yield at 4.924% and the 10-Year note at 4.386%.  Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.74%.  Crude oil fell to $65.07 a barrel and natural gas fell to $3.149 per MMBTUs.  The U.S. dollar index rose to 97.69 and gold fell to $3339.20 an ounce.

In economic reports last week:

• The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 2.7% in June, a 10-month low.
  • The median price of an existing home sale rose to $435,300.
• The Commerce Department reported:
  • New home sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in June but were 6.6% below last June.
  • The median sales price of a new home was $401,800, 4.9% below May’s median price and was down 2.9% from last June.

• • Durable goods orders fell 9.3% in June.
    • Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.2%.
    • Excluding defense, durable goods orders fell 9.4%.

• The Labor Department reported seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 217,000, down 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.
  • The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, were 224,500, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.
  • Recurring claims fell 5,000 from the previous week revised level to 1.951MM.
  • For the full unemployment report go here:  https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
• The EIA weekly oil report is here: Weekly Petroleum Status Report.  Also, the EIA reported in the prior week:
  • Field production of crude oil fell from 13.375MM BPD to 13.273MM BPD.
  • Natural gas storage rose 23BN cubic feet and was above its average level during the past five years at this time of year.
• Baker Hughes reported the number of oil rigs fell 7 to 415 and the number of natural gas rigs rose 5 to 122.
• Factset reported with 34% of S&P 500 companies reporting 2^nd quarter earnings, that the blended earnings increase was 6.4%.

Please call us if you have any questions.

Loren Rex – Emeritus

Erik A Smith, AIF® – President & C.E.O.

Nicholas Acri, CFP® – Partner & Wealth Advisor

Dylan Thomas, CFP® – Partner & Wealth Advisor

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

https://bakerhughesrigcount.gcs-web.com/na-rig-count

https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators

https://advantage.factset.com/hubfs/Website/Resources%20Section/Research%20Desk/Earnings%20Insight/EarningsInsight_071125.pdf

https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/2025-07/ehs-06-2025-summary-2025-07-23.pdf