M Notes: Mon, 10-12

LAST WEEK:  

Markets:   An overview of the S&P500 12-month chart shows Markets have been moving sideways for the last three month.   Lots of volatility in those three months.  But we’ve melted up near a new all-time high again.  

S&P roller coaster last week:  Up a lot, Up a lot, Down, Down, and Up quite a bit.

Fed Balance Sheet:  $6.75 Trillion.  

Fed Minutes:   The vote was 12-0 by the FOMC to raise their rate up to ¼ point to 3.75% – 4.00%.  With the Minutes:  the longer Energy prices remain elevated, the greater the possibility of broader price pressures.  The AI buildout could put upward pressure on Inflation.  And they expected the Unemployment rate to remain near it’s current level. 

ISM:   Their Services index dropped a touch from 55.4 (August), down to 54.9 (September).  A number above 50 implies an economic expansion.

Metals:  Gold:  $4,071.   Silver:  $58.

National Debt:  $40.27 Trillion.   

Trade Deficit:  The August Trade Deficit was -$106 Billion.  

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THIS WEEK:

Focus of the week:  Inflation.  Consumer Inflation is expected to climb up a touch from 3.4% up to 3.6%.  Wholesale Inflation is expected to remain at 5.4%.

Calendar:  Existing Home Sales (Tue); the CPI (Wed); the PPI, Retail Sales (Thu); and Industrial Production (Fri).  

Earnings:  Some of the companies reporting this week:  Bank of America, Blackrock, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs,  Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Taiwan Semiconductor, UnitedHealth, and Wells Fargo.  

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* The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general.    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.  Yahoo! Finance, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily and Barron’s are several of the sources used for financial information. 

* The National Debt figure comes from usdebtclock.org.   

* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.  Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.  You cannot invest directly in an index.   Past performance does not guarantee future results. No strategy can assure a profit or protect against a loss.  Investments in the securities markets involve risk, such as loss of your principal.