Weekly Market Review - August 22, 2018

Chad Hassinger |
Categories
Tax Planning

By Bradley J. Rathe, AIF®
Chief Investment Officer

August 22, 2018

"Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master." Christian Lous Lange

Weekly look back:
  1. Industrial  Production was much softer than expected.  Many have been concerned about the backlog of parts orders creating for a slower finished product.  This is expected to be a short term problem.
  2. Productivity had a great month as growth in output jumped and hours worked slowed.  The 2.9% annualized productivity is one of the better numbers in some time.
  3. Consumer Sentiment continues to be resilient.  Wednesday will mark the longest bull market ever, stretching 3,453 since the bottom in March 2009, surpassing the 1990 record.
Weekly look ahead:
  1. This time of year is normally a very quiet period for the markets as Europe is normally on vacation and in the US many are just coming back from summer holiday and getting ready to send kids back to school.
  2. Housing is right behind retail sales in relevance to gauging macro economic strength.  New Home sales have been lagging the past few months but this month expectations are higher.
  3. Durable Goods orders are expected to fall this month however when excluding transportation they are expected to move up slightly.  Durable goods are normally one of the most volatile macro numbers.
World Macro highlights for this week: 

Wednesday: Existing Homes Sales, FOMC Minutes
Thursday: New Home Sales
Friday: Durable Goods Orders

2018 Yearly Index Returns as of 8/17/2018

S&P 500 

7.76%

Europe Equity

-5.49%

Emerging Equity

-9.21%

US 10 Yr

+.47 bp

US Small Cap Stocks

11.08%

 

Graph Of The Week

Another strong retail sales month in July.

 

Unless otherwise expressly indicated, the opinions or views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect, and may differ from, the opinions or views of Strategic Financial Group, LLC or others within Strategic Financial Group, LLC, including its officers, managers, owners, employees or other service providers.