Weekly Economic Update: December 14, 2015

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WEEKLY QUOTE

“We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.”
&endash;John Dewey

WEEKLY TIP

Too many people believe they can create a great lifestyle for themselves by buying goods and services. They end up with depreciating material items and large debts. Paying yourself first and investing for the long term is a better path toward a better quality of life.

WEEKLY RIDDLE

Gaze at my flat and anchored face. You will not see 13 any place. What am I?

Last week’s riddle

These two things are measured by units associated with temperature and time, yet they mark no time and have no temperature. What are they?

Last week’s answer

Latitude and longitude.

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HOW LOW WILL OIL FUTURES GO?

Did they hit bottom Friday afternoon, when WTI crude settled at $35.62 on the NYMEX? Maybe not, given the International Energy Agency’s new advisory that the oil glut may grow larger in 2016. Even Brent crude, the global benchmark, closed at $37.94 at the end of the week. Forecasts for a mild winter have also disappointed oil investors. Not since February 2009 have WTI crude prices been this low.^1,

RETAIL SALES IMPROVE 0.2%

The November gain fell short of the 0.3% advance projected by analysts polled by Briefing.com, but it surpassed the 0.1% increase for October. Core retail sales (minus auto, gas, and home improvement purchases) rose a healthy 0.4% last month.²

PENDING HOME SALES INDEX IMPROVES

Housing contract activity increased 0.2% in October, representing a turnaround for the pending home sales index maintained by the National Association of Realtors. The index had retreated 2.3% in September.²

CONSUMERS GROW A BIT MORE POSITIVE

Last week brought a minor gain for the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. It had ended November at 91.3; its preliminary December reading was slightly better at 91.8, beating a Briefing.com consensus forecast of 91.6.²

After three months without an advance, the federal government’s Producer Price Index rose 0.3% for November. The core PPI increased by the same amount. Year over year, headline PPI was still down 1.1% while core PPI was up 0.5%.^2,3

All three major indices were rattled by the rout in oil. On the week, the Dow lost 3.26%, the S&P 500 3.79%, and the Nasdaq 4.06%. Their Friday closes: Nasdaq, 4,933.47; Dow, 17,265.21; S&P, 2,012.37.⁴

THIS WEEK

Monday, China releases new data on its industrial output and Navistar and VeriFone offer Q4 earnings news. The November CPI arrives Tuesday. Wednesday, investors around the world will react to the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision (announcement at 2:00pm EST with subsequent press conference); reports on November housing starts, building permits and industrial production will also appear, plus earnings news from Cintas, FedEx, Jabil Circuit, Oracle, and Pier 1. Thursday, the Conference Board issues its November leading indicator index, new initial claims figures are released, and Accenture, Carnival, General Mills, Red Hat, Scholastic Corp., and Winnebago all present earnings. CarMax, Darden Restaurants, and Lennar round out the week with earnings news on Friday.

% CHANGE	Y-T-D	1-YR CHG	5-YR AVG	10-YR AVG
DJIA	-3.13	-1.88	+10.26	+6.03
NASDAQ	+4.17	+4.79	+17.41	+11.82
S&P 500	-2.26	-1.13	+12.45	+5.97
REAL YIELD	11/20 RATE	1 YR AGO	5 YRS AGO	10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS	0.67%	0.49%	1.16%	2.17%

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Sources

wsj.com, bigcharts.com, finance.yahoo.com, treasury.gov – 12/11/155^5,6,7,89
Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.

Disclosure

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. 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. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. Market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional..