You could have set the events of last week to music.
Should they stay or should they go?
Last week, the Bank of England (BOE), Britain’s central bank, inadvertently sent a memo describing how staffers should handle press inquiries about its confidential research into the possibility of a British exit (Brexit) from the European Union, to the media. Oops.
The possibility of a Brexit is top-of-mind after the re-election of British Prime Minister David Cameron who promised voters a referendum on the issue by the end of 2017. Reuters reported, “Many British business leaders are worried about the possibility of losing access to their main export markets and there are also concerns about the impact on Britain’s financial services industry.”
There is no job too immense when you’ve got confidence.
Just before the long holiday weekend, while confirming the Federal Reserve still expects to begin raising its benchmark interest rate during 2015, Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s comments took a philosophical turn:
“Of course, the outlook for the economy, as always, is highly uncertain. I am describing the outlook that I see as most likely, but based on many years of making economic projections, I can assure you that any specific projection I write down will turn out to be wrong, perhaps markedly so. For many reasons, output and job growth over the next few years could prove to be stronger, and inflation higher, than I expect; correspondingly, employment could grow more slowly, and inflation could remain undesirably low.”
Money, it’s a gas.
When oil prices fell, many people assumed consumers would spend the windfall. For the most part, they didn’t. Barron’s reported earnings for several retailers were lower than expected last week.
All in all, it wasn’t a very exciting week for U.S. stock markets.
Data as of 5/22/15 |
1-Week |
Y-T-D |
1-Year |
3-Year |
5-Year |
10-Year |
| Standard & Poor’s 500 (Domestic Stocks) |
0.2% |
3.3% |
12.3% |
17.3% |
14.6% |
5.9% |
| Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. |
-0.7 |
8.6 |
0.4 |
10.1 |
6.7 |
3.9 |
| 10-year Treasury Note (Yield Only) |
2.2 |
NA |
2.6 |
1.8 |
3.2 |
4.1 |
| Gold (per ounce) |
-1.3 |
0.4 |
-7.3 |
-8.7 |
0.3 |
11.2 |
| Bloomberg Commodity Index |
-2.7 |
-1.8 |
-24.4 |
-8.7 |
-3.8 |
-3.6 |
| DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index |
-1.2 |
-0.6 |
12.5 |
12.9 |
15.1 |
7.9 |
S&P 500, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods. Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
*The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment. You cannot invest directly in this index.
* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
* Gold represents the London afternoon gold price fix as reported by the London Bullion Market Association.
* The DJ Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The DJ Equity All REIT TR Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones.
* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.
* Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
* “Markets Sing a Mixed Melody”
Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/23/us-britain-boe-eu-idUSKBN0O805720150523
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20150522a.htm
http://online.barrons.com/articles/after-drop-lowes-stock-could-be-a-buy-1432351570?mod=BOL_hp_we_columns (or go to http://peakclassic.peakadvisoralliance.com/app/webroot/custom/editor/05-26-15_Barrons-After_Drop_Lowes_Stock_Could_Be_a_Buy-Footnote_3.pdf)
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