Succinct Summations for the week ending December 11th, 2015
Positives:
- Core retail sales rose 0.4%, up from the 0.2% increase previously and above the 0.3% expected rise.
- Bloomberg’s consumer comfort index rose slightly to 40.1, up from 39.6 previously.
- MBA mortgage applications index rose 1.2% w/o/w and is up 29% y/o/y.
Negatives:
- Headline retail sales rose 0.2%, slightly less than the 0.3% expected increase.
- Import and export prices fell 0.4% and 0.6% m/o/m, respectively. Downward pricing pressure continues.
- Stocks had a rough week with the S&P 500 shedding 3.7%
- UofM Consumer Sentiment fell to 91.8, down from 92 previously.
- Jobless claims rose to 282k from 269k previously.
- Business inventories came in unchanged.