The market was up…it just didn’t feel like it
The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) was up about 1% this past week, but that good news was lost somewhere between Rick Perry’s “brain cramping” when he couldn’t remember the third government agency he would eliminate and the consternation surrounding the resignation of Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Clearly there was a lot to talk about last week and when the closing bell rang on Friday, nine of the ten market sectors were positive for the week (the one negative sector was Financials which was down -0.4%).
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 1.43% to finish at 12,154, the S&P 500 gained 1.01% to finish at 1,264, the Nasdaq Composite Index was essentially flat finishing at 2,679 and the Russell 2000 Index was basically unchanged ending at 745.
Key economic data for the week included the Labor Department reporting that nearly 3.4 million jobs were posted in September, representing more advertised jobs than at any point in the past three years, clearly a positive sign that job growth will continue. Also reported was that jobless claims had fallen by 10,000 to 390,000 for the week–the lowest in seven months. Finally, the U.S. trade deficit shrank by 4% in September to $43.1 billion–the lowest this year.
As the third quarter results finish up this week, there are a number of retailers due to report earnings and expectations are high for a solid holiday season. The S&P 500 remains on track for a 6% upside surprise in earnings and 2% upside in revenues. Economic indicators such as rail and port traffic, in combination with the performance of transportation stocks, suggest that retailers have the inventory to support the holiday sales season.
With respect to the evolving situation in Europe, we are optimistic that the new leadership in Greece and Italy will bring more confidence to the global markets and put the eurozone back on track toward containing its debt crisis.
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Dean J. Catino, CFP®, CPWA®
President & Co-Founder
Pretty much everything in Dean’s life revolves around his family and friends. Dean married his high school sweetheart, Sheila, and they have three accomplished daughters that he is immensely proud of. For fun, Dean enjoys the serenity of fly fishing and the thrill of crushing the “cyber competition” on his Peloton bike. Of course, scoring better than Dave on the golf course always makes his day!
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