NEW HOME SALES DROP, RESALES CLIMB
March brought a 6.1% advance for existing home sales according to the National Association of Realtors. This happened with a 4.6-month inventory of homes for resale, which is underneath the 6-month level characteristic of a thriving housing market. New home purchases tumbled 11.4% in March after a great February; on the bright side, there were more new home sales in the first quarter than in Q1 2014.1
ORDERS FOR DURABLES INCREASE
The 4.0% March gain noted by the Census Bureau was welcome. From November through February, overall hard goods orders declined by 1.4% or more each month (excepting January’s 2.8% increase).2
OIL ADVANCES, GOLD RETREATS
In New York, oil prices rose 2.5% from April 20-24 on inventory concerns: light sweet crude for July delivery settled Friday at $57.15 on the NYMEX. Gold lost 2.4% last week to a Friday close of $1,175.00 on the COMEX.3
TECH EARNINGS GIVE BIG LIFT TO NASDAQ
That benchmark rose 3.25% last week, briefly topping the 5,100 level on the way to a close of 5,092.09 Friday. Five-day gains also came for the Dow (1.42% to 18,080.14) and S&P 500 (1.75% to 2,117.69).4
THIS WEEK: On Monday, Apple, Container Store, Hertz Global, MGM Resorts, Universal Health Services and Barracuda Networks report earnings. Tuesday brings a new Conference Board consumer confidence survey, February’s S&P/Case-Shiller home price index and earnings from Aetna, Aflac, Big 5, Bristol-Myers Squibb, UPS, Edison International, Smart & Final, Ford Motor Co., Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera, Cummins, Coach, Supervalu, Ally, Akamai, NCR, Genworth, Pfizer, Twitter, GoPro, JetBlue, Revlon, Kraft, Whirlpool, U.S. Steel, T-Mobile, Merck, Sirius XM, Wynn Resorts, Western Digital and Valero. Wednesday offers a Federal Reserve policy statement, an estimate of Q1 GDP, March pending home sales numbers and earnings from Anthem, Baidu, General Dynamics, Yelp!, Goodyear, Fiat Chrysler, GrubHub, Hilton, Humana, Praxair, Time Warner, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott and Northrup Grumman. Thursday presents March personal spending data, new initial claims figures and earnings from Avon, Visa, Colgate-Palmolive, Diebold, Coca-Cola, LiveNation, Time Warner Cable, ExxonMobil, Expedia, Virgin America, Fluor, HealthSouth, Pitney-Bowes, Public Storage, ConocoPhillips, Blackrock, Magellan Health, Marathon Petroleum, Nutrisystem and Cigna. Friday offers the University of Michigan’s final April consumer sentiment index, ISM’s April factory PMI and results from Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Clorox, CVS and Weyerhaeuser.
% CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG
DJIA +1.44 +9.57 +12.27 +7.65
NASDAQ +7.52 +22.75 +20.25 +16.10
S&P 500 +2.86 +12.73 +14.79 +8.22
REAL YIELD 4/24 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS 0.04% 0.49% 1.47% 1.63%
Sources: online.wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 4/24/155,6,7,8
Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.
WEEKLY QUOTE
“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day.”
– Jim Valvano
WEEKLY TIP
Do you really need weekly housecleaning service, a gardener, or a dog walker? The money you save by not using these services could go toward debts, an emergency fund, or investing.
WEEKLY RIDDLE
It traveled from Kentucky to Texas in three days, and it did so while staying in a corner. What is it?
Last week’s riddle:
Wilbert was driving a black car. The car’s lights were off, there was no moonlight – and a cat was in the middle of the road. How did Wilbert know to stop?
Last week’s answer:
He was driving during the day.
Citations.
1 – arkansasonline.com/news/2015/apr/24/u-s-new-home-sales-fall-11-4-20150424/ [4/24/15]
2 – investing.com/economic-calendar/durable-goods-orders-86 [4/24/15]
3 – proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/61155/gold-drops-16-to-1175-wti-decreases-1-to-5715-61155.html [4/24/15]
4 – markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp [4/24/15]
5 – markets.wsj.com/us [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F24%2F14&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F24%2F14&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F24%2F14&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F23%2F10&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F23%2F10&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F23%2F10&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=4%2F25%2F05&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=4%2F25%2F05&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=4%2F25%2F05&x=0&y=0 [4/24/15]
7 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [4/24/15]
8 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [4/24/15]
This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. Market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., for Mark Lund, Mark is known as The 401k Advisor, Investor Coach, The Financial Advisor, The Financial Planner and author of The Effective Investor. Mark offers investment advisory services through Stonecreek Wealth Advisors, Inc. an independent, fee-only, Registered Investment Advisor firm providing 401k consulting for small businesses and financial Advisor services for professional athletes and individuals. Stonecreek is located in Salt Lake City, Murray, West Jordan, Sandy City, Draper, South Jordan, Provo, Orem, Lehi, Highland, Alpine, and American Fork in Utah.
