Kevin M. Nast Presents: WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE

WEEKLY TIP

Self-employed? Have your accountant look at your balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement before 2011 ends. Some tax-saving strategies may come to mind, and an up-to-date set of books means less work for your tax preparer.

WEEKLY RIDDLE

Trains travel from one town to another town all day, always on the same track, always going nonstop and at the same speed. Thenoontrain took 80 minutes to complete the trip, but the4 PMtrain took an hour and 20 minutes. Why?

Last week’s riddle:
Just twoU.S. states have capital cities whose names include the full name of the state. What states are they?

Last week’s answer:

Indiana(Indianapolis) andOklahoma(Oklahoma City).

October 17, 2011

RETAIL SALES JUMP MOST IN 7 MONTHS

On Friday, the Commerce Department said overall U.S.retail spending improved 1.1% in September, with auto sales rising 3.6% for the month and department store sales up 1.1%. August retail sales – previously recorded as flat – were revised north to a 0.3% gain.¹

UMICH SENTIMENT SURVEY SHOWS A DECLINE
The University of Michigan’s initial October consumer sentiment poll came in 57.5, under the final September reading of 59.4. As the Wall Street Journal noted, consensus forecasts expected a reading of around 60.²

GOLD & OIL REBOUND IMPRESSIVELY

NYMEX crude futures rose 4.60% last week, settling at $86.80 a barrel on Friday and putting oil up 9.60% so far for October. Gold futures settled at $1,681.80 on the COMEX Friday, capping the best week for the metal since the start of September – a 2.89% five-day advance.³

DOW, NASDAQ GET BACK IN THE BLACK FOR 2011

As the European Union seemingly progressed toward a solution to its debt crisis, clouds parted on Wall Street. It was a great week for U.S.equities, as these numbers show: S&P 500, +5.98% to 1,224.58; DJIA, +4.88% to 11,644.49; NASDAQ, +7.60% to 2,667.85. Friday, the CBOE VIX closed below 29 and all three of the major indices closed at 10-week highs.^4,5

THIS WEEK: Wall Street teems with earnings reports. Monday, we have 3Q results from IBM, Wells Fargo, Hasbro, Charles Schwab, Gannett, Halliburton, Stanley Black & Decker and Citigroup, plus a report on September industrial output. Tuesday, we also have earnings from Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Apple, Intel, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Yahoo! and CSX, and the PPI for September comes out; additionally, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Boston Fed and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies before the Senate. Wednesday offers earnings from Morgan Stanley, Western Digital, Travelers, BNY Mellon, E*TRADE, AmEx and eBay; a new Fed Beige Book comes out, the September CPI is released and we also have data on September housing starts. Thursday, 3Q results roll in from Microsoft, AT&T, Chipotle, SanDisk, Nokia, AutoNation, Eli Lilly, McGraw-Hill and Capital One, along with September’s existing home sales numbers, new initial claims figures and the Conference Board’s latest LEI. Friday, earnings reports arrive from McDonald’s, GE, Honeywell and Verizon.

Sources: cnbc.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov, treasurydirect.gov – 10/14/11^4,5,6,7,8

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This material was prepared by MarketingLibrary.Net Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. 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. 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. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. 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.

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Citations.

1 – latimes.com [10/14/11]

2 – blogs.wsj.com [10/14/11]

3 – blogs.wsj.com [10/14/11]

4 – cnbc.com [10/14/11]

5 – montoyaregistry.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

6 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com [10/14/11]

7 – treasury.gov [10/14/11]

7 – treasury.gov [10/14/11]

8 – treasurydirect.gov [7/11/01]