Weekly Economic Update: October 10, 2016

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Weekly Quote

“Treasure the love you have received above all. It will survive long after your gold and good health have vanished.” –Og Mandino

Weekly Tip

If you are under 35, see if you can save 15% of your salary toward retirement. If your company matches your retirement plan contributions, count the employer match as part of that 15%.

Weekly Riddle

I have 6 faces, but I wear no makeup. I often roll around and bump into things. What am?

Last week’s riddle

What jumps higher than a building?

Last week’s answer

Everything. A building cannot jump. [/column]

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Hiring Picked Up In The Third Quarter

Employers added 156,000 net new jobs to their payrolls in September, the Department of Labor stated Friday. The August gain was revised up to 167,000, so monthly job growth averaged 192,000 in Q3, improved from 146,000 in Q2. The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.0% in September; the U-6 underemployment rate remained at 9.7%. Yearly wage growth reached 2.6%, with the average hourly wage rising six cents to $25.79.^1,2

ISM Indices Show A September Rebound

America’s manufacturing sector grew again last month; the Institute for Supply Management’s factory PMI improved to 51.5 in September, recovering from its recessionary August mark of 49.4. The Institute’s non-manufacturing PMI surged north 5.7 points last month, rising to 57.1.²

Oil & Gold Prices Head In Opposite Directions

On Friday, gold closed down at $1,251.90 on the COMEX, falling about 5% for the week. Light sweet crude advanced just over 3% last week, closing at $49.81 on the NYMEX Friday, even after a 1.3% loss during the trading week’s last session.³

Stocks End the Week Slightly Lower

The numbers contained within Friday’s jobs report did not exactly spark a rally, so the S&P 500 settled at 2,153.74, losing 0.67% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average both descended 0.37% across five trading days to respective Friday closes of 18,240.49 and 5,292.40.⁴

This Week

Monday: Monday is Columbus Day. Wall Street will be open for business, but federal government offices and banks will be closed.
Tuesday: Tuesday, a new earnings season starts with results from Alcoa, Barracuda Networks, and Fastenal.
Wednesday: Wednesday, the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its September monetary policy meeting, and CSX Corp. announces Q3 earnings.
Thursday: Thursday’s earnings parade includes results from Delta Air Lines, Winnebago, and Wynn Resorts; a new initial jobless claims report also arrives.
Friday: Fed chair Janet Yellen speaks on Friday in Boston about the economic recovery; Wall Street will consider her comments, along with the preliminary October University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, September retail sales numbers, the September PPI, and earnings from Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, PNC, and Wells Fargo.

% CHANGE	Y-T-D	1-YR CHG	5-YR AVG	10-YR AVG
DJIA	+4.68	+7.85	+12.86	+5.39
NASDAQ	+5.69	+10.46	+22.69	+13.01
S&P 500	+5.37	+7.91	+17.28	+5.96
REAL YIELD	10/7 RATE	1 YR AGO	5 YRS AGO	10 YRS AGO
10 YR TIPS	0.10%	0.53%	0.16%	2.37%

Table Sources

wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 10/7/16^4,5,6,7 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.

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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.