Category Archives: Economy/Stock Market

After last week’s red zone ending, the markets opened Monday higher on favorable economic news. The ISM Manufacturing Index climbed to 52.8, from 51.5 in April, exceeding estimates of 51.8. Elsewhere, U.S. Personal Income ticked up 0.4% in April following flat activity in March.

During the holiday-shortened week, the markets dipped into the red zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the week with its largest decline in nearly a month (1%), as all 30 Dow components lost ground.

Our experts discuss the week’s economic releases, including the JOLT Survey, the Producer Price Index and the employment situation. The week began with the markets closing in the red zone both Monday and Tuesday on depressed prices as Energy and Technology stocks weighed on the markets. Midweek the markets were mixed while reports showed retail sales remained unchanged in April. By Thursday, the S&P closed at a new all-time record level. The upswing continued through Friday to bring the weekly results into the green.

Our Research Analysts address the concern that the U.S. Markets may be overvalued.

The “Money Talks” hosts cover the week’s market moves Industrial production, the producer price index and the Fed’s Beige Book, which covered activity from mid-February through March, showed modest-to-moderate growth in most districts, while labor continued to improve or remained stable. On Wednesday, industrial production dipped 0.6 percent in March. On Thursday, turbulent trading led to an afternoon downsizing. Stocks traded lower on Friday, following market sell-offs in Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, consumer confidence is up this month. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index jumped to 95.9 in the first half of April, from a reading of 93 in March. A sharp decline propelled by events overseas on Friday left U.S. stocks lower for the week.

The “Money Talks” hosts discuss the Nonmanufacturing Index, Job Openings and Labor Turnover, Federal Open Market Committee minutes from the March meeting, and oil inventories. Energy stocks were the market movers for the week, making headlines on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Labor Department data showed initial jobless claims ticked up by 14,000 to 281,000 last week versus an expected increase of 17,000.

On both Monday and Tuesday, the markets saw light trading while the Consumer Price Index showed consumer prices increased 0.2% in February. The core CPI, which excludes energy and food, ticked up 0.2%, twice what economists were expecting. Midweek investors showed their concern over the rising dollar. On Friday, Commerce Department data showed the third and final fourth-quarter GDP reading remained at 2.2%, though shy of an expected uptick to 2.4%.  The final University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index registered a reading of 93, well above the preliminary 91.2, but down from February’s 95.4 reading.

For the week ending March 13, 2015, the Dow and S&P 500 had their third straight week of losses, which sent both back into negative territory for the year.