Succinct Summations week ending March 28th, 2014
Positives:
1. Rates continue to fall in this so-called “rising-rate environment”
2. Despite pockets of carnage, the S&P 500 is still less than 2% away from ALL-TIME HIGHS.
3. Personal income and spending both rose 0.3%.
4. New home sales fell 3.3% m/o/m in February — better than the expected 4.9% drop.
5. Of the largest financial institutions, 25 of 30 got the “all clear” from the fed to return cash to shareholders.
6. January home prices rose 13.2%, the 11th straight month of double-digit gains
7. U.S. March consumer confidence rose to 82.3 v expectations of 78.5.
8. U.S. durable goods rose 2.2% in February, better than the 0.8% expected gain.
9. Core PCE came in at 1.1% in January, well below the feds targeted 2%.
10. Euro-zone composite PMI came in at 53.2, the ninth-straight month of economic expansion.
Negatives:
1. February pending home sales fell 0.8% m/o/m vs 0.2% expected. (Down 8th straight month)
2. The Richmond fed fell to -7, dow from -6 in February.
3. HSBC Chinese flash PMI fell to 48.1, an eight-month low.
4. U.S. manufacturing PMI slowed to 55.5 from 57.1 and below expectations of 56.5
5. U.K. inflation fell to its lowest level in over 4 years, disinflation is not healthy.
6. Core capex rose 0.2% in February, below the 0.3% estimated.
7. Momentum names have been crushed the past 2 weeks, Twitter down nearly 40%, FB, AMZN etc following suit. (Note this is a sentiment positive)
8. UMich consumer confidence fell to 80, from 81.6 in February.
Thanks Batman!
What's been said:
Discussions found on the web: