Money Talk Podcast, Friday May 24, 2019
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Landaas & Company newsletter May edition now available.
Advisors on This Week’s Show
Bob Landaas
Kyle Tetting
Marc Amateis
Tom Pappenfus
(with Max Hoelzl and Joel Dresang)
Week in Review (May 20-24, 2019)
Significant economic indicators & reports
Monday
No significant announcements
Tuesday
Expressing optimism for improvements, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales declined 0.4% in April. The annual pace of home sales dipped to 5.19 million houses, which was down 4.4% from April 2018. An economist for the trade group said low mortgage rates, pent-up demand and continued job creation should boost sales in coming month.
Wednesday
No significant announcements
Thursday
The annual rate of new home sales declined in April, according to a report from the Commerce Department. A rate of 673,000 houses sold in April was 6.9% behind the March pace but 7% above the rate set in April 2018. The number of new houses for sale remained above the long-term average but was still less than half the height reached in 2005, prior to the Great Recession.
A report from the Labor Department showed the four-week moving average for initial unemployment claims falling for the first time in five weeks after hitting its lowest mark since November 1969. The indicator of employer reluctance to let workers go has been below its 52-year average every week since the beginning of 2013 and is one of the most persistent signals of the tight labor market. Demand for workers should empower more consumer spending, which drives about 70% of the U.S. gross domestic product.
Friday
A measure of manufacturing prospects, durable goods orders, declined in April, the second setback in three months. Excluding orders for transportation equipment—a heavy, but volatile factor—bids for manufacturing were unchanged from March and up 1.9% from the year before, according to the Commerce Department. An indicator of business investments fell 0.9% from March and rose 2.6% from April 2018. Economists have been keeping an eye on business investments as productivity has lagged.
Market closings for the week
- Nasdaq – 7,637, down 180 points or -2.3%
- Standard & Poor’s 500 – 2,826, down 33 points or -1.2%
- Dow Jones Industrial– 25,586, down 178 points or -0.7%
- 10-year U.S. Treasury Note – 2.32%, down 0.07 point
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