Moving forward!
Vacation time is over…time for me to get back to work and rejoin the masses. So let’s get to it!
The technical glitch that brought the NASDAQ to a standstill for more than three hours hasn’t appeared to cause any damage; in fact the NASDAQ actually posted strong gains for the week of 1.53%. The S&P 500 and the Russell 200 also registered positive numbers but the Dow Jones provided a down week, the third in a row. It did edge back above 15,000 however. 10 Year Treasuries yields continued to rise right up until Friday, when the disappointing news of the 13.4% tumble in July new housing sales showed up and ruined that party.
This week I wouldn’t be surprised to see that the US markets, dabble a little in caution, with a slight negative basis. Economic postings aren’t expected to be stellar. I’m holding out hope that Tuesdays Q2 GDP is revised to show 2.1% growth from the earlier estimated 1.7%, which would reflect a narrowing of the US trade deficit as well as manufacturing gains.
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee seem as hesitant as everyone else about how soon quantitative easing will begin to wind down. Minutes of the FOMC’s July meeting showed that some members favor starting to cut bond purchases as early as September while others advocate a delay until later in the year. However, they generally articulated support for the overall tentative timetable laid out in June, which suggested purchases might end entirely by mid-2014.
It’s nice to be back and I wish you all an amazing week!
What I'm Watching This Week 