M Notes: Mon, 4-20
| Week Close: 3-17-26 | + (-) | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 49,447 | +1,531 | +3.2% |
| S&P | 7,126 | +309 | +4.5% |
| Nasdaq | 24,468 | +1,565 | +6.8% |
| R2000 | 2,777 | +147 | +5.6% |
| 10-year | 4.25 | -0.07 | -1.6% |
| Oil | 85.57 | -11.00 | -11.4% |
LAST WEEK:
Markets: What a difference the last three weeks has been. The S&P500 has recouped all the loses, and closed at a record high last Friday.
S&P roller coaster last week: Up a lot, Up significantly, Up a lot, Up, and Up significantly.
Fed Balance Sheet: $6.706 Trillion. Up $12 Billion last week.
Fed Beige Book: The Federal Reserve breaks out the country into 12 Districts. Eight of them showed a modest pace of growth. Two were flat, while the other two showed modest declines. The Cleveland District had modest Growth.
Housing: March Existing Home Sales were down -3.6%. They’re down -1.0% Y/Y.
Industrial Production: It was down -0.5% in March.
Inflation: The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a read on Wholesale Inflation. The March PPI went up +0.5% (consensus was for +1.2%). It rose from 3.4% up to +4.0% Y/Y (consensus was for +4.7%. Last week the PCE, the Federal Reserve’s main Inflation focus, remained at +2.8% Y/Y. And the CPI (Consumer Inflation) rose from +2.4%, up to +3.3% (Mar) Y/Y.
Metals: Gold finished the week at $4,849. Silver finished the week at $82.
National Debt: $39.141 Trillion.
---------------------
THIS WEEK:
Focus of the week: Just when we thought the conflict in the Middle East might be over, Iran attacked ships in Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Futures were down a touch (higher than I expected), and Oil was only up modestly. So: Iran, Trump, Oil… rinse and repeat.
Calendar: Retail Sales (Tue).
Earnings: some of the companies reporting this week: Airbus, Caterpillar, CVS, Dell, Lowe’s, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Rolls-Royce.
* 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.