Succinct Summations week ending February 20th
Positives:
1. Stocks keep humming, the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 made new all-time highs.
2. Initial jobless claims fell to 283k vs the 290k expected.
3. EU consumer confidence hit the highest levels since Sept 2007
4. Markit US manufacturing PMI came in at 54.3, slightly higher than expected.
5. The Nasdaq Composite is now less than 4% away from taking out the March 2000 highs.
Negatives:
1. PPI fell 0.8% m/o/m vs expectations of a 0.4% drop. Core PPI fell 0.1% m/o/m vs expectations for a 0.1% rise.
2. UK inflation fell to 0.3% in January, the lowest number since they began measuring CPI in 1988.
3. Empire manufacturing index came in at 7.78, a slight miss and down from 9.95 last month.
4. NAHB confidence index fell to 55 in February, down from 57 in January (still firmly in positive territory).
5. Housing starts fell 2% to 1.065mm, slightly lower than expected.
6. Industrial production rose 0.2% in January, below the 0.3% expected rise.
7. Philly fed came in at 5.2 vs 9 expected, the lowest reading in a year.
