SEPTEMBER SAW SLIGHTLY MORE HOME BUYING
Existing home sales advanced 0.7% last month, according to a National Association of Realtors report. This gain broke a 3-month streak of retreats. Single-family home sales rose 1.1%. Housing inventory increased 1.6% last month, but it was still 6.4% under year-ago levels.1
GROUNDBREAKING FALLS TO A 12-MONTH LOW
Housing starts slumped 4.7% in September, the Census Bureau reported last week. Building permits also declined, decreasing 4.5%. Fall hurricanes may have slowed construction activity, but investment in homebuilding was also down 7.3% year-over-year during the second quarter.2
DOW SURGES ABOVE 23,000; GOLD DROPS
Across last week, the Dow Industrials climbed 2.00% to 23,328.63. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.35% to 6,629.05, while the S&P 500 gained 0.86% to 2,575.21. Gold had its worst week in a month, slipping 1.9% to a Friday COMEX settlement of $1,280.50.3,4
THIS WEEK: Monday’s earnings parade includes news from Halliburton, Hasbro, Kimberly-Clark, Lennox International, Logitech, Seagate, and VF Corporation. Tuesday, earnings arrive from 3M, Akamai, Ameriprise Financial, AT&T, Biogen, Canon, Capital One, Caterpillar, Chipotle, Corning, Discover Financial Services, Express Scripts, Fiat Chrysler, Fifth Third, General Motors, Infosys, JetBlue, Eli Lilly, Lockheed Martin, McDonalds, Novartis, Pentair, Regions Financial, Ryder Systems, Sherwin-Williams, Stanley Black & Decker, and TD Ameritrade. September new home sales numbers appear Wednesday, plus earnings from Aflac, Alaska Air, Ally Financial, Amgen, Anthem, Avery Dennison, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Freeport-McMoRan, GlaxoSmithKline, W.R. Grace, Ingersoll Rand, Norfolk Southern, Northrop Grumman, O’Reilly, Penske, Public Storage, Sirius XM, Six Flags, SkyWest Airlines, Suncor, Visa, and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Thursday’s earnings include Alphabet, Altria, Amazon, American Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, Baidu, Bayer, Bristol-Myers, Celgene, Chubb, Conoco-Phillips, Dunkin’ Brands, Ford Motor Co., Gilead Sciences, The Hartford, HealthSouth, Hershey, Hilton Worldwide, IMAX, Intel, Marathon Petroleum, Mattel, Microsoft, Nokia, Pinnacle Foods, Praxair, Raytheon, Stryker, Twitter, Union Pacific, UPS, Valero Energy, Waste Management, and Xerox; September pending home sales and new initial claims figures also emerge. The first estimate of Q3 GDP and the month’s final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index surface Friday, plus earnings from Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, Exxon Mobil, Goodyear, Huntsman, Merck, Phillips 66, Rockwell Collins, and Weyerhaeuser.
% CHANGE Y-T-D 1-YR CHG 5-YR AVG 10-YR AVG
DJIA +18.04 +28.44 +14.97 +7.25
NASDAQ +23.15 +26.46 +24.11 +14.33
S&P 500 +15.02 +20.26 +15.94 +7.16
REAL YIELD 10/20 RATE 1 YR AGO 5 YRS AGO 10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS 0.52% 0.08% -0.71% 2.09%
Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 10/20/174,5,6,7
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
“Too much rest is rust.”
– Sir Walter Scott
WEEKLY TIP
Small business owners applying for home loans should know that if they own 25% or more of the voting stock of a corporation, they are technically classified as self-employed. They will need to provide the lender with a corporate tax return.
WEEKLY RIDDLE
What time of day can be written the same way forwards or backwards?
Last week’s riddle:
A Saab travels along an avenue at 50mph, a Subaru at 30mph. The Subaru passes by the Saab, without speeding up to do so. How is this possible?
Last week’s answer:
They are traveling in opposite directions.
Citations.
1 – 247wallst.com/housing/2017/10/20/september-existing-home-sales-inventory-post-first-gains-in-4-months/ [10/20/17]
2 – reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-housingstarts/u-s-housing-starts-hit-one-year-low-building-permits-tumble-idUSKBN1CN1QS [10/20/17]
3 – markets.wsj.com/us [10/20/17]
4 – marketwatch.com/story/gold-drops-to-2-week-low-as-dollar-gains-strength-on-tax-reform-hopes-2017-10-20/ [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F20%2F16&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F20%2F16&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F20%2F16&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F19%2F12&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F19%2F12&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F19%2F12&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=10%2F19%2F07&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=10%2F19%2F07&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=10%2F19%2F07&x=0&y=0 [10/20/17]
6 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [10/20/17]
7 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [10/20/17]
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 a Wealth Advisor, 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 investment and retirement planning for individuals and 401k consulting for small businesses. Stonecreek is located in Salt Lake City, Murray City, West Jordan City, Sandy City, Draper City, South Jordan City, Provo City, Orem City, Lehi City, Highland City, Alpine City, and American Fork City in Utah.
