Succinct Summations of Week ending October 17th
Positives:
1. Initial jobless claims came in at 264k, their lowest numbers since 2000.
2. Gasoline prices fell to their lowest levels since 2011.
3. Russell 2000 actually finished up 2.8% on the week.
4. U of M consumer confidence came in at 86.4, the best since 2007.
5. Housing starts rose to 1.017mm, slightly better than expected thanks to strong multi-family starts.
6. Philly Fed index came in at 20.7, the fourth straight month above 4 for the first time since 2004.
7. Refinance applications rose 10.6%, the highest since June.
Negatives:
1. S&P 500 sliced right through the 200-day moving average and took out its August lows.
2. The 10-year yield briefly dipped below 2% as investors panicked into safety — the largest one-day decline since 2011.
3. Retail sales came in weak, core was down 0.1% m/o/m vs expectations for a 0.4% rise.
4. S&P 500 fell as much as 9.8% from its all-time highs set 4 weeks ago
5. The VIX rose to its highest levels since 2011.
6. A really lousy few weeks for European equities. Greek stocks fell 5.7% on Wednesday, the worst day since June 2013.
7. China CPI rose by 1.6% y/o/y, the slowest increase since 2010.
8. NAHB home builder index fell to 54.
9. NFIB small business optimism index fell to 95.3, a 3-month low.
Thanks, Batman!
