Stocks took a breather Monday and Tuesday following last week’s gains.  Stocks rallied on Wednesday but sold off sharply on Thursday as details of President Biden’s proposed capital gains tax hike came out.  The proposed plan would tax long term capital gains for incomes above $1MM at the same rate as ordinary income, much higher than today.  After a sharp rally on Friday stocks indices ended mixed for the week. 

Treasury yields fell with the 30-year bond yield closing at 2.237% and the 10-Year note closing at 1.557%.  Crude oil fell to $62.15 a barrel and natural gas was rose to  $2.723 per MMBTUs.  The U.S. dollar index fell to 90.81 and gold was little changed at $1775.90 an ounce. 

In the economic numbers this week: 

• The National Association of Realtors Reported:

• • Existing home sales fell 3.7% in March from February due to tight supply.
  • The median price for an existing home sale rose to  $329,100.  This is up 17.2% from March 2020.
• The Labor Department reported: 
  • A seasonally adjusted 547,000 workers filed initial claims for unemployment in the week ending April 17^th down from a revised 586,000 the week before. 
  • The 4-week moving average, designed to smooth out volatility, fell to 651,000.
  • Continuing claims were nearly unchanged at 3.7MM in the week ending April 10^th.
  • A broader measure of claims including extended benefits, pandemic assistance and other programs rose from 16.9MM to 17.4MM in the week ending April 3^rd.
  • 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 11.0MM BPD.
  • Natural gas storage rose 38BN cubic feet and is about at the average level at this time of year during the past five years.
• Baker Hughes reported the number of active oil rigs fell 1 to 343.  The number of active natural gas rigs was unchanged at 94.
• Factset reported with 25% of S&P500 companies reporting Q1 earnings, the blended earnings growth rate is 33.8%.  If this continues, this may be the best quarter of earnings growth since Q3 2010.

Please call us if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

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

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.