Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 5.1.15

May 1, 2015 4:00pm by

Succinct Summations week ending May 1st

Positives:

1. Initial jobless claims plunged to 262k vs the 290k expected, the lowest reading in 15 years.
2. Pending home sales rose 13.4% y/o/y vs expectations for a 5.1% rise.
3. Consumer spending rose 1.9% in the first quarter, better than expected.
4. The S&P/Case-Shiller index increased 5% y/o/y, vs the 4.7% expected and the biggest gain since August.
5. PMI services flash came in at 57.8, slightly lower than expected but still strong.
6. Chicago PMI came in at 52.3 versus the 50 expected.
7. The employment cost index rose 0.7% in Q1 vs the 0.6% expected rise.

Negatives:

1. Q1 GDP rose 0.2% vs expectations for a 1% rise.
2. US homeownership rate for Q1 fell to 63.7% vs 64% in Q4 and vs 64.8% one year ago. The 50 year average is 65.3%.
3. Ford, Toyota, Fiat/Chrysler and Nissan miss expectations. (GM is only one beat so far)
4. Consumer Confidence came in at 95.2, below the 102.2 expected.
5. Dallas Fed manufacturing survey came in at -16 vs expectations of -12.
6. China’s manufacturing PMI remained around the flat line at 50.1, unchanged. The services PMI fell to 53.4 from 53.7 and is now matching the lowest level since December ’08.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. VennData commented on May 1

    Mester, Williams Say Fed Could Lift Rates at Any FOMC Meeting

    “…Two Federal Reserve officials, in the first comments by policy makers since their gathering earlier this week, said the central bank is ready to raise interest rates at any meeting as the economy picks up after a harsh winter. “All meetings are on the table”

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-01/mester-williams-say-fed-could-lift-rates-at-any-fomc-meeting

    Investors and traders will take this information and use it to justify their already-hardened beliefs.

Posted Under