Succinct Summations for the week ending March 31st, 2017
Positives:
1. Corporate profits rose 22.3% y/o/y in the fourth quarter
2. S&P 500 and Dow Jones finished higher for the sixth straight quarter.
3. Q4 GDP revisions came in at a 2.1% annualized right, above the 2% expected.
4. Pending home sales rose 5.5% in March, well above the 2.4% expected rise.
5. Case-Shiller home prices rose 0.9% for the third straight month, the strongest run in four years.
6. After a 1% down week, stocks bounced back, with the S&P 500 gaining 1% this week.
7. Consumer confidence rose from 114.8 to 125.6, the highest since September 2000
8. For the first time in five years, the PCE index rose above the Fed’s 2% target.
9. Chicago PMI came in at 57.7, up from 57.4 previously.
Negatives:
1. Consumer spending rose just 0.1% in February, after just a 0.2% increase in January.
2. Jobless claims fell just 3k to 258k, down from the highest levels of the year. The 4-week average rose from 246.5k to 254.25k.
3. Retail inventories rose 0.4% in February, and are up 3.9% y/o/or.
4. Refinancing applications fell 3%, despite the drop in interest rates.
5. Imports fell 2.1%, exports fell 0.1%.
Thanks, Mike
