06|02|2021

More to Come? | May 28, 2021

There was an onslaught of data last week, which led to gains. Should more be expected with the coming earnings season?

Monday                       S&P 500 0.27%| NASDAQ 1.09%

ISM Manufacturing unexpectedly slipped and remains in contractionary territory. The weaker economic data would typically signal lower rates as rate cut expectations would increase. To the contrary, 10-year treasuries rose on the day. In the face of weak economic data, the start of the quarter brought optimism towards the next three months.

Tuesday                       S&P 500 0.62% | NASDAQ .84%

JOLTs job openings rose more than expected to 8.14M openings. For perspective, there were 6.6M unemployed as of the May report. The strong jobs data did not deter markets, though; this may be because the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Chair, J. Powell, spoke on the day. He indicated that progress is being made towards their inflation target. This is the ‘secret sauce’ needed to justify future rate cuts.

Wednesday                 S&P 500 0.51% | NASDAQ 0.88%

Initial jobless claims rose for the week to 238K from 234K; the level remains elevated, albeit from all-time lows. Factory orders unexpectedly slipped into the negative on the month. Additionally, ISM Services unexpectedly slipped into contractionary territory. This is all bad news for economic production, so why did the markets rise? Interest rates fell as this data increases the likelihood that the FRB will lower rates sooner than expected. The heightened odds are now calling for a .25% cut in September and December, according to CME FedWatch.

Thursday                               S&P 500        -% | NASDAQ      -%

Happy Independence Day!

Friday                                    S&P 500 0.54% | NASDAQ 0.90%

Happy Jobs Friday! The unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, Nonfarm payrolls beat expectations, and participation rose to 62.6% from 62.5%, all for June. The unemployment rate went up even though we added 206K jobs??? Participation went up so, with more people in the market, the rate can go up even as jobs are added. This is a positive signal that workers are returning to the work force. The rise on equity markets, however, was on hopes that economic weakness would be enough for an FRB rate cut.

Conclusion                            S&P 500 1.95% | NASDAQ 3.55%

This was a busy week for economic data, especially for a holiday shortened week. We got weaker Jobs, manufacturing, Services, and Factory orders. The weakness led to stronger markets on hopes the FRB will cut rates BEFORE a recession can materialize. The coming week starts second quarter earnings. Valuations are stretched (S&P 500 P/E: 28.94) and economic production is weak, very little should be expected from this season. This could be the start of volatility that would lead into the Autumn.

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After three weeks of loss, the S&P 500 eked out a gain for the week. Is there more to come?

Monday

Markets surged ahead on Monday attempting to make up ground from the last few weeks of declines. The S&P 500 rose .95% on the day. The Nasdaq led the way higher as it rose 1.4%.

Tuesday

Housing ruled the day for the markets on Tuesday. Markets ended the day mildly lower than they began. Elevated home prices (13.9% increase) and reduced new home sales (-5.9%) contributed largely to sentiment on the day.

Wednesday

The Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) led the way in gains for the day (2%). The major indices rose mildly for the day as it was a light economic calendar leading up to Thursday’s jobs data.

Thursday

Economic data was strong on Thursday, but the market reaction was tepid. Core durable goods increased more than expected and last months figure was revised to double the previous estimate. Weekly initial jobless claims data improved and remains under 500K for the fourth week in a row. It reached a post pandemic low of 404K this week.

Friday

Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index rose to 3.1% YoY in April. This is the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) preferred measure of inflation. It gives us insight into how the FRB may react with rates. Michigan Consumer Sentiment fell to 82.9 for May. These data points led the S&P 500 higher for the day by 0.08%.

Conclusion

The S&P 500 staged a bit of a rebound this week. Between favorable jobs data, durable goods data, and a housing market that is seeing plenty of demand the reflation trade is well under way. The difficult thing will be for it to live up to expectations as it unfolds. This week, however, it did as the S&P 500 managed to gain 48.25 points and is up 11.93% year to date.

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Always remember that while this is a week in review, this does not trigger or relate to trading activity on your account with Financial Future Services. Broad diversification across several asset classes with a long-term holding strategy is the best strategy in any market environment.
Any and all third-party posts or responses to this blog do not reflect the views of the firm and have not been reviewed by the firm for completeness or accuracy.