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Market Direction Is Important –
Updated Chart of the S&P 500 and Secondary Signals
Of our Four secondary indicators under our MTI:
Relative Strength Index (RSI)-Positive
Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)-Positive
MACD- Negative
Money Flow Index-MFI-Positive
More on the Market and the Economy:
Stocks closed higher on Friday following a better than expected jobs report, with the S&P 500 finishing the week up.2%.
This week data will be released on small business optimism, inflation and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
The economy added 209,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%, marking a 16-year low. The gains were led by restaurants and bars hiring 53,000, professional firms hiring 49,000 and health care companies hiring 39,000.
The trade deficit narrowed 6% to $43.6 billion in June, marking an eight-month low, as exports rose 1.2% to the highest level since 2014 while imports slipped .2%.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for third quarter growth dipped to 3.7% following last week’s jobs report.
After three months of declines, pending home sales rebounded in June, rising 1.5%. According to the National Association of Realtors, “market conditions in many areas continue to be fast paced, with few properties to choose from, which is forcing buyers to act almost immediately on an available home that fits their criteria. Low supply is an ongoing issue holding back activity. Housing inventory declined last month and is a staggering 7.1 percent lower than a year ago”.
Manufacturing slowed slightly in June but still expanded at a solid pace, as the ISM manufacturing index fell to 56.3%. Measures of new orders, employment and production edged down.