SEPTEMBER SAW SLIGHTLY MORE HOME BUYING
Existing home sales advanced 0.7% last month, according to a National Association of Realtors report. This gain broke a 3-month streak of retreats. Single-family home sales rose 1.1%. Housing inventory increased 1.6% last month, but it was still 6.4% under year-ago levels.
GROUNDBREAKING FALLS TO A 12-MONTH LOW
Housing starts slumped 4.7% in September, the Census Bureau reported last week. Building permits also declined, decreasing 4.5%. Fall hurricanes may have slowed construction activity, but investment in homebuilding was also down 7.3% year-over-year during the second quarter.
DOW SURGES ABOVE 23,000; GOLD DROPS
Across last week, the Dow Industrials climbed 2.00% to 23,328.63. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.35% to 6,629.05, while the S&P 500 gained 0.86% to 2,575.21. Gold had its worst week in a month, slipping 1.9% to a Friday COMEX settlement of $1,280.50.
THIS WEEK: Monday’s earnings parade includes news from Halliburton, Hasbro, Kimberly-Clark, Lennox International, Logitech, Seagate, and VF Corporation. Tuesday, earnings arrive from 3M, Akamai, Ameriprise Financial, AT&T, Biogen, Canon, Capital One, Caterpillar, Chipotle, Corning, Discover Financial Services, Express Scripts, Fiat Chrysler, Fifth Third, General Motors, Infosys, JetBlue, Eli Lilly, Lockheed Martin, McDonalds, Novartis, Pentair, Regions Financial, Ryder Systems, Sherwin-Williams, Stanley Black & Decker, and TD Ameritrade. September new home sales numbers appear Wednesday, plus earnings from Aflac, Alaska Air, Ally Financial, Amgen, Anthem, Avery Dennison, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Freeport-McMoRan, GlaxoSmithKline, W.R. Grace, Ingersoll Rand, Norfolk Southern, Northrop Grumman, O’Reilly, Penske, Public Storage, Sirius XM, Six Flags, SkyWest Airlines, Suncor, Visa, and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Thursday’s earnings include Alphabet, Altria, Amazon, American Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, Baidu, Bayer, Bristol-Myers, Celgene, Chubb, Conoco-Phillips, Dunkin’ Brands, Ford Motor Co., Gilead Sciences, The Hartford, HealthSouth, Hershey, Hilton Worldwide, IMAX, Intel, Marathon Petroleum, Mattel, Microsoft, Nokia, Pinnacle Foods, Praxair, Raytheon, Stryker, Twitter, Union Pacific, UPS, Valero Energy, Waste Management, and Xerox; September pending home sales and new initial claims figures also emerge. The first estimate of Q3 GDP and the month’s final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index surface Friday, plus earnings from Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, Exxon Mobil, Goodyear, Huntsman, Merck, Phillips 66, Rockwell Collins, and Weyerhaeuser.
About the Independent Financial Advisor
Robert Pagliarini, PhD, CFP® has helped clients across the United States manage, grow, and preserve their wealth for nearly three decades. His goal is to provide comprehensive financial, investment, and tax advice in a way that is honest and ethical. In addition, he is a CFP® Board Ambassador, one of only 50 in the country, and a fiduciary. In his spare time, he writes personal finance books. With decades of experience as a financial advisor, the media often calls on him for his expertise. Contact Robert today to learn more about his financial planning services.
