Money Talk Podcast, Friday June 22, 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | RSS

Landaas & Company newsletter June edition now available.

Advisors on This Week’s Show

Week in Review (June 18-22, 2018)

SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC INDICATORS & REPORTS

Monday

No major announcements or releases

Tuesday

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said new housing starts for the month of May came in at a 1.35 million annualized rate. This marked the highest reading since July of 2007, and a 20.3% increase since May 2017. Single-family and multi-family starts both showed improvement for the month.

In the same report, the two agencies released a reading on May building permits which came in below estimate at a 1.3 million annualized rate. The reading still constitutes an 8% increase from May 2017. This volatile indicator has been above the pre-recession mark every month since April 2016.

Wednesday

Existing home sales for the month of May were reported at a 5.43 million annualized rate by the National Association of Realtors, marking the second straight month of declines. The chief economist of the association noted the strong economy should be expected to be generating a stronger sales pace but pointed to a continued lack of supply for holding down sales. Prices continued to increase with the median existing-home price of $264,800 marking an all-time high, the 75^th straight month of year-over-year gains.

Thursday

The four-week moving average of initial unemployment claims moved lower to 221,000, signaling continued strong demand for labor and a decrease of 4,000 from the prior week reading. The Labor Department data also showed the four-week average of continuing claims at the lowest level since December 1973.

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index improved 0.2% for the Month of May. This nominal increase was lower than recent months as declines in the labor market and residential construction components dragged on the index. The Conference Board noted that this reading “still points to solid growth but the current trend, which is moderating, indicates that economic activity is not likely to accelerate”.

Friday

No major announcements or releases

Where the Markets Closed for the Week

Nasdaq – 7,693, down 54 points or 0.7%
Standard & Poor’s 500 – 2,755, down 25 points or 0.9%
10-year U.S. Treasury Note – 2.90%, down 0.02 points
Dow Jones Industrial– 24,581, down 510 points or 2.0%

Send us a question for our next podcast.
Not a Landaas & Company client yet? Click here to learn more.
More information and insight from Money Talk
Money Talk Videos
Follow us on Twitter.