Indices
DJIA: 25,502.30 (-1.34%)
NASDAQ: 7,643.00 (-0.59%)
S&P 500: 2,801.00 (-0.76%)
Commodities
Gold: 1,313.10 (+0.78%)
Copper: 290.60 (+0.00%)
Crude Oil: 58.94 (+0.72%)
New Video on Advanced Charting
We have added a new video that covers the advanced features of the Stock Rover Charting facility. The video can be viewed here [1].
Economy
Slowing growth and economic activity along with declining inflation contributed to the Federal Reserve leaving the prime rate unchanged at 2.25 – 2.50% in their March meeting [2] along with beginning to reduce its balance sheet reduction and May and stopping the reduction altogether in September. Projections for economic activity [3] were also downgraded from December’s levels, with the median estimate of GDP dropping from 2.3% to 2.1% for 2019, and from 2.0% to 1.9% for 2020, but remaining at 1.8% for 2021 and 1.9% for the longer run. Unemployment rate projections ticked up +0.2% to 3.7% for 2019 and 3.8% for 2020, while longer run projections dropped from 4.4% to 4.3%. The prime rate estimates were modified to reflect the Fed’s more patient current policy, with the target rate for 2019 dropping from December’s 2.9% estimate to 2.4%, and the estimate for 2020 and 2021 dropping from 3.1% to 2.6%, while the longer run rate estimate remained steady at 2.8%.
Existing home sales [4] rose a record +11.8% in February, recovering from January’s downwardly revised -1.4% slump to help boost year over year sales from -8.7% in January to -1.8%. Home prices rose for the 84th consecutive month, with February increasing +3.6% for single family homes to a median price of $251,400 and condominium/co-op prices rising +3.1% to a median price of $233,300. Sales grew the most strongly in the West, up +16.0% to an annual rate of 1.16 million sales (-7.9% Y/Y), followed by the South at +14.9% for 2.39 million sales (-0.4% Y/Y), and then the Midwest at +9.5% for 1.27 million sales (0.0% Y/Y), with sales in the Northeast unchanged from January at 690,000 (+1.5% Y/Y).
IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Composite Flash Index dropped -1.5 to a 6-month low of 54.3 with services down -1.2 to a 2-month low of 64.8, manufacturing down 0.5 to a 21 month low of 52.4, and manufacturing output down -1.1 to a 33 month low of 51.6. The slowing business growth reflected cautious spending patterns and a dip in optimism for business outlook to the weakest since June 2016. Subdued demand resulted in new work rising at the slowest pace since April 2017 and a slowing of staff hiring. Comments from a number of manufacturers responding to the survey indicated a cyclical slowdown in demand that resulted in the slowest rate of new order increase in nearly two years.
Upcoming Economic Reports:
Wednesday March 27 – International Trade
Thursday March 28 – Final GDP, Q4 2018
Earnings Calendar:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat (RHT) [5] |
McCormick & Co (MKC) [6] |
Paychex (PAYX) [7] |
Science Applications Intl (SAIC) [8] |
CarMax (KMX) [9] |
| Winnebago Industries (WGO) [10] |
FactSet Research Systems(FDS) [11] |
Lululemon Athletica (LULU) [12] |
RH (RH) [13] |
Arcimoto (FUV) [14] |