Weekly Economic Update: December 7, 2015

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WEEKLY QUOTE

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.”
&endash; Lyndon B. Johnson

WEEKLY TIP

Most employers pay their workers 26 times per year. As a consequence, most people receive three paychecks during two months of the year instead of two. If your budget allows, you could devote some or all of that third monthly paycheck to wiping out a debt.

WEEKLY RIDDLE

These two things are measured by units associated with temperature and time, yet they mark no time and have no temperature. What are they?

Last week’s riddle

In what year did Christmas and New Year’s Day happen in the same year?

Last week’s answer

They happen in every year.

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JOBS REPORT GIVES THE FeD A GREEN LIGHT

The economy created 211,000 jobs in November – a healthy hiring total that could prompt the Federal Reserve to tighten for the first time since 2006. Job growth has averaged 218,000 over the past three months (the Labor Department just revised October and November job gains upward by a total of 35,000 hires). Unemployment remained at 5.0% in November while underemployment (the U-6 rate) ticked up to 9.9%. Yearly wage growth was at 2.3%. Economists polled by Briefing.com expected 196,000 November payroll additions.^1,²

SERVICE SECTOR GROWS, FACTORY SECTOR SHRINKS

According to the Institute for Supply Management, U.S. manufacturing contracted last month. The ISM factory PMI came in at a troubling 48.6, down from 50.1 in October (anything over 50 denotes growth). The Institute’s service sector PMI declined 3.2 points in November, but its 55.9 mark indicated solid expansion.²

PENDING HOME SALES INDEX IMPROVES

Housing contract activity increased 0.2% in October, representing a turnaround for the pending home sales index maintained by the National Association of Realtors. The index had retreated 2.3% in September.²

OIL SETTLES AT $39.97

Light sweet crude closed below the $40 level Friday, losing 2.7% for the day. Gold, on the other hand, gained $22.90 on the COMEX Friday to close at $1,084.10.³

A FRIDAY RALLY LEADS TO A WINNING WEEK

Two things turned a down week into a slightly positive one on Wall Street: the latest jobs report and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi’s comment that the ECB’s stimulus effort had “no particular limit.” The Dow rallied 369.96 Friday. Across five trading days, the Nasdaq gained 0.29%, the Dow 0.28% and the S&P 500 0.08%. The Friday settlements: Nasdaq, 5,142.27; Dow, 17,847.63; S&P, 2,091.69.3.³

THIS WEEK

Diamond Foods and H&R Block present earnings Monday. Tuesday offers earnings news from AutoZone, Casey’s General Stores, Dave & Buster’s, Krispy Kreme, Smith & Wesson and Toll Brothers. Wednesday brings earnings from Costco, Lululemon Athletica, Men’s Wearhouse and Pep Boys. In addition to a new initial jobless claims report, Thursday will also see earnings announcements from Adobe and Restoration Hardware. The November PPI, November retail sales numbers and the initial December University of Michigan consumer sentiment index will all be released on Friday.

% CHANGE	Y-T-D	1-YR CHG	5-YR AVG	10-YR AVG
DJIA	+0.14	-0.29	+11.36	+6.47
NASDAQ	+8.58	+7.82	+19.69	+12.78
S&P 500	+1.59	+0.95	+14.16	+6.57
REAL YIELD	11/20 RATE	1 YR AGO	5 YRS AGO	10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS	0.68%	0.48%	0.86%	2.17%

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Sources

wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 11/27/15^45,6,7,8
Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.

Disclosure

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. Market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional..