Major stock indices rose this week on mixed economic data as traders anticipate a FED pause in September.  2^nd quarter GDP was revised lower on reduced business investment.  While August jobs creation grew, the level continued a slower pace for the summer and wage increases came in smaller than expected.

Treasury bond yields were mixed with the 30-year bond yield at 4.297% and the 10-Year note at 4.186%.  Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 7.18%.  Crude oil rose to $86.05 a barrel and natural gas rose to $2.761 per MMBTUs.  The U.S. dollar index rose to 104.26 and gold rose to $1966.20 an ounce.

• The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June was unchanged from a year earlier.  This was up from a 0.4% loss in May.
• The Commerce Department
  • Revised it’s estimate of 2^nd quarter gross domestic product to a 2.1% annualized gain, down from an initial estimate of 2.4%.

• • • Lower inventory and nonresidential fixed investment were revised lower.
    • Household spending was revised higher.
  • Personal consumption expenditures rose 0.8% in July, up from 0.6% in June.
    • The PCE price index rose 0.2% in July the same as June and is up 3.3% from a year ago.
      • Excluding food and energy PCE prices were also up 0.2% in July and were up 4.2% from a year ago.
    • Personal incomes were up 0.2% in July, in line with prices.
• The Labor Department reported:
  • The number of jobs openings declined to 8.8MM in July.
  • The U.S. added a seasonally adjusted 187,000 non-farm workers in August.
    • The unemployment rate rose 0.3% to 3.8%.
    • Hourly wages increased by 0.24% in August.

• • Seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment were 228,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 232,000.
    • The 4-week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out volatility, were 237,500 an increase of 250 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 12.8MM BPD.
  • Natural gas storage rose 32BN cubic feet and is above the 5-year average at this time of year.
• Baker Hughes reported the number of active oil rigs was unchanged at 508.  The number of active natural gas was fell 1 to 114.

Please call us if you have any questions.

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

Founder / Emeritus                                                                            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.

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.spglobal.com/spdji/en/index-announcements/article/sp-corelogic-case-shiller-index-positive-momentum-continues-in-june/

https://www.bls.gov/jlt/

https://www.bls.gov/