M Notes: Mon, 8-31

LAST WEEK:

Markets:  A small win last week.  It seems that Markets have grown accustomed the events and issues surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. 

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

Durable Goods:   July Orders were expected to be up +0.5%.  The actual number came in higher at +1.1%.  Orders were up +12.0% Y/Y.

Fed Balance Sheet:  $6.73 Trillion.  

Fed’s Jackson Hole Meeting:  The takeaway from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech is we may see a ¼ point increase in the Fed’s interest rate at their September meeting.  

GDP:  The second read for Q2 GDP remained at +1.5%.   

Housing:  New Home Sales were down -10.5% in July, and were down -6.3% Y/Y.  

Inflation:  The Personal Consumption & Expenditures index (the PCE) remained at 3.7% Y/Y.

Metals:  Gold finished the week at $4,530.  Silver finished the week at $67.

National Debt:  $39.98 Trillion.   

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THIS WEEK:

Focus of the week:  Jobs & Unemployment.  Coming off of a -23,000 Jobs in July, the August Jobs number is expected to be about 50,000.  The Unemployment (U3) number is expected to rise a tick from 4.1% up to 4.2%.  

Calendar:  ISM Manufacturing index (Tue); the Fed’s Beige Book (Wed); the Trade Deficit, ISM Services index (Thu); and the Jobs & Unemployment numbers (Fri).  

Earnings:  The current Earnings Season is winding down.  Some of the companies reporting this week:  Broadcom, Dell, and Medtronic.

* 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.