APRIL DATA AFFIRMS HOUSING REBOUND
Last month brought a 2.3% gain in new home sales and an 0.6% increase in existing home sales. Distressed properties (short sales and foreclosures) represented only 18% of residential resales in April, the National Association of Realtors noted; compare that with 28% of sales in April 2012. NAR also announced that the median existing home price was $192,800 in April, 11.0% higher than a year ago. The pace of new home buying has improved 29.0% in the past 12 months, according to the Census Bureau.1,2
FED MINUTES DISCLOSE THOUGHTS OF TAPERING QE3
The May 1 Federal Open Market Committee minutes were released last Wednesday, shortly after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke mentioned the need to sustain the central bank’s current stimulus effort in Congress. The minutes, however, noted that “a number” of Fed officials were open to scaling down QE3 as soon as June if economic indicators sufficiently improved. Concern and confusion about these mixed messages put more volatility into the markets and factored into a 3-day losing streak for the S&P 500.3
DURABLE GOODS ORDERS UP 3.3% IN APRIL
This contrasts with March’s 5.9% decrease. With transportation orders factored out, the April increase was still 1.3%. Census Bureau reports have noted improvements in hard goods orders in two of the past three months, even with the sequester.4
RUSSELL 2000 REACHES A MILESTONE
While the small-cap benchmark fell 1.20% last week, it also made history on May 20: it attained the 1,000 level for the first time. The RUT settled Friday at 984.28. The S&P 500 (-1.07% to 1,649.61), DJIA (-0.33% to 15,303.10) and NASDAQ (-1.14% to 3,459.14) all slipped last week.4,5,6,7
THIS WEEK: U.S. financial markets are closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Tuesday sees the release of the March S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the Conference Board’s May consumer confidence survey and earnings from Tiffany & Co. and Wet Seal. DSW and Chico’s announce Q1 results on Wednesday. In addition to new initial jobless claims figures, Thursday offers NAR’s report on April pending home sales, the federal government’s second estimate of Q1 GDP, and earnings from Krispy Kreme, BigLots! and Costco. Friday, the Commerce Department issues its report on April personal spending and the University of Michigan’s final May consumer sentiment survey arrives.
% CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG
DJIA +16.78 +22.13 +4.52 +7.79
NASDAQ +14.56 +21.83 +8.30 +12.91
S&P 500 +15.66 +24.91 +3.98 +7.68
REAL YIELD 5/24 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS -0.26% -0.38% 1.36% 1.72%
Sources: usatoday.com, thestreet.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 5/24/134,7,8,9,10
Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly.
These returns do not include dividends.
WEEKLY QUOTE
“Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.”
– Roger Babson
WEEKLY TIP
What’s more important for a young couple: an emergency fund, or saving for a down payment on a home? The emergency fund gets the nod if your finances allow you to save toward only one of these two financial objectives.
WEEKLY RIDDLE
Rigid is my spine, my innards are mostly pale, yet I am always ready to tell a tale. What am I?
Last week’s riddle:
What should the next number be in this series: 103, 107, 109, 113, 127 …
Last week’s answer:
131, as the whole series is made up of prime numbers.
Citations.
1 – csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2013/0523/New-home-sales-rise-but-market-still-a-long-way-from-normal [5/23/13]
2 – realtor.org/news-releases/2013/05/april-existing-home-sales-up-but-constrained [5/22/13]
3 – reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/markets-usa-stocks-idUSL2N0E321R20130522 [5/22/13]
4 – thestreet.com/story/11933260/1/sp-poised-for-three-day-losing-streak-amid-qe-wind-down-chatter.html [5/24/13]
5 – marketwatch.com/story/russell-2000-index-breaks-above-1000-2013-05-20 [5/20/13]
6 – blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2013/05/24/dow-ekes-out-friday-gain-down-for-the-week/ [5/24/13]
7 – usatoday.idmanagedsolutions.com/stocks/overview.idms?index=SP500 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F24%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F24%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F24%2F12&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F23%2F08&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F23%2F08&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F23%2F08&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=5%2F23%2F03&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=5%2F23%2F03&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
8 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=5%2F23%2F03&x=0&y=0 [5/24/13]
9 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [5/24/13]
10 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [5/24/13]
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