PHONE: 414-223-1099 TOLL-FREE: 1-800-236-1096
SEND US A QUESTION OR COMMENT FOR OUR NEXT SHOW

Money Talk Podcast, Friday Aug. 15, 2015

Play
Play
Landaas & Company newsletter  August edition now available.

Advisors on This Week’s Show

Bob Landaas

Brian Kilb

Kyle Tetting

(with Max Hoelzl and Joel Dresang)

Week in Review (August 11-15, 2014)

Significant economic indicators & reports

Monday

No major releases

Tuesday

No major releases

Wednesday

The Commerce Department said retail sales were barely positive in July. Though diminishing, it was the fourth consecutive month of gains for stores, suggesting some resilience among American consumers, whose spending accounts for 70% of gross domestic product. Even factoring out the volatile gas and automotive sales, the slight gain was lower than expected. Altogether, retail sales rose 3.7% from the year before, under the year-to-year average gain of 4.6% over the last 30 years.

retail sales 7.14

After a couple of months rebounding from the harsh winter, American businesses slowed the buildup of their inventories in June. The 0.4% gain in inventories slightly outpaced sales, Commerce said in a separate report. The resulting inventories-to-sales ratio stayed relatively lean.

Thursday

The moving four-week average for initial unemployment claims rose for the first time in six weeks, but filings were second lowest in more than eight years. Labor Department data showed new jobless applications have been below the 46-year average every week since the beginning of 2013, a sign that employers remain reluctant to let workers go, fueling growth in the job market.

Friday

Wholesale inflation hardly budged in July, with energy prices dipping for the fifth time in six months and food costs gaining for the first time in three months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The year-to-year change in the core Producer Price Index, which excludes volatile energy and food costs, rose 1.6%, lower for the second month in a row and still below the 2% inflation at which the Federal Reserve says the economy should be OK growing on its own.

Manufacturing led another gain in industrial production in July, the sixth month in a row of expanded output, the Federal Reserve reported. With less help lately from consumer spending and housing expansion, industries have been supporting more of the U.S. economy’s growth. Capacity utilization rose to its highest mark since before the 2008 financial collapse but stayed under the mark at which inflation becomes a fear.

Where the Markets Closed for the Week

  • Nasdaq – 4,465, up 94 points or 2.2%
  • Standard & Poor’s 500 – 1,995,  up 23 points or 1.2%
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury Note – 2.35%, down 0.07 point
  • Dow Jones Industrial – 16,663, up 109 points or 0.7%

Send us a question for our next podcast.

Follow us on Twitter.

More information and insight from Money Talk

Money Talk Videos

Landaas newsletter subscribers return to the newsletter via e-mail.


Text Size:  A  A  reset

No client or potential client should assume that any information presented or made available on or through this website should be construed as personalized financial planning or investment advice. Personalized financial planning and investment advice can be rendered only after engagement of the firm for services, execution of the required documentation, and receipt of required disclosures.
Landaas & Company performs investment advisory services only in those states where it is licensed, or excluded or exempted from state investment advisor licensing requirements. All responses to inquiries made by prospective customers to this internet site will not be made absent compliance with state investment advisor and investment advisor rep licensing requirements, or applicable exemptions or exclusions from licensing.
Please contact the firm for more information.
MEMBER FINRA MEMBER SIPC MSRB REGISTRANT

Powered By: mindspike design
ADDRESS: 411 E. WISCONSIN AVENUE, 20TH FLOOR MILWAUKEE, WI 53202
© 2024 Landaas & Company