Large cap U.S. stocks saw substantial gains mainly in reaction to FED chair Powell’s dovish stance on cutting interest rates during testimony to congress.  Powell indicated that inflation is still below the FED’s target and the outlook hasn’t improved with a global slowdown.  Small cap stocks and international stocks saw much more modest gains.

In the numbers this week:

• China’s exports fell 1.3% in June after rising 1.1% in May.  China’s imports fell 7.3% in June and fell 8.5% in May.
• The Labor Department reported
  • First time claims for unemployment fell 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 last week.  The four week moving average of claims, designed to smooth out weekly fluctuations, fell to 219,250.
  • Consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in June.  Excluding volatile food and energy prices rose 0.3%.  From a year earlier prices were up 1.6% in June but excluding food and energy were up 2.1%.
  • Producer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in June.  Excluding volatile food and energy prices rose 0.2%.  From a year earlier producer prices rose 1.7% and excluding food and energy rose 2.3%.
  • Average hourly earnings increased 0.2% above inflation in June and 1.5% above inflation for the past 12 months.
• The Energy Information Administration weekly report is here wpsrsummary.  Also, the EIA reported in the prior week:

• • U.S. Crude oil production increased from 12.2MM barrels per day to 12.3MM barrels per day.
  • Storage of natural gas rose 81BN cubic feet and is still below the past five year average for this time of year.
  • Baker Hughes reported in the past week that the number of active oil rigs fell 4 to 784 and the number of active gas rigs fell 2 to 172.

Please call us if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

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

President                                                                                                 Managing Partner

Generations Financial Planning & Wealth Management             269-441-4143

77 E. Michigan Ave, Suite 140

Battle Creek, MI  49017

Tel 269-441-4090

Carrie Fuce, Assistant 269-441-4091

Toll Free: 800-513-8180

Fax 866-381-2301

Visit our Website:  www.genfinplan.com

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.