Blog Post

Stocks Mixed On Week With Little Economic Data

Major stock indices ended the week mixed with a slight increase in the Nasdaq 100 Index and the biggest decline in the Dow 30 Industrials.  It was a slow week for economic data and existing home sales and durable goods order fell while new home sales rose.

Treasury bond yields rose with the 30-year bond yield at 4.502% and the 10-Year note at 4.241%.  Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.54%.  Crude oil rose to $71.66 a barrel and natural gas rose to $3.077 per MMBTUs.  The U.S. dollar index rose to 104.32 and gold rose to $2755.10 an ounce.

In economic reports this week:

  • The Treasury Department reported that in fiscal year 2024 ending in September, the Federal deficit was $1.833BN. This was up 8% from fiscal year 2023.
    • $882BN was spent on net interest on the federal debt.
    • For the first time, interest on the debt exceeded defense spending.
  • The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 1.0% in September.
    • The median price of an existing home sale was $404,500 which is 3.0% above last September.
  • The Commerce Department reported:
    • New home sales rose 4.1% in September and were up 6.3% from a year ago.
    • The median sales price of a new home was $426,300, down .08% from August.
  • Durable goods orders fell 0.8% again in September.
    • Excluding transportation, durable goods order rose 0.4%.
    • Excluding defense, durable goods orders fell 1.1%.
  • The Labor department reported:
    • Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 227,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised level.  
      • The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, was 238,500 an increase of 2000 from the previous week’s revised level. 
      • 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 a record 13.5MM BPD.
    • Natural gas storage rose 80BN cubic feet and is above the average level during the past five years at this time of year.
  • Baker Hughes reported the number of oil rigs fell 2 to 480 and the number of natural gas rigs rose 2 to 101.
  • Factset reported with 37% of S&P 500 companies reporting Q3 earnings the blended earnings increase is 3.6% from a year ago.

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

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

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

https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/

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