“You work hard for your money. We’ll work hard to protect it.”
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- Positive
Money Flow Index-MFI-Positive
More on the Market and the Economy:
Stocks slipped on Friday, while the S&P 500 finished the week with a .5% gain, marking its third consecutive weekly gain.
This week data will be released on new home sales, existing home sales, consumer confidence, GDP and the FOMC meeting announcement.
The Conference Board’s leading economic index rose to 127.8 in June: “the U.S. LEI rose sharply in June, pointing to continued growth in the U.S. economy and perhaps even a moderate improvement in GDP growth in the second half of the year…the broad-based gain in the U.S. LEI was led by a large contribution from housing permits, which improved after several months of weakness”.
Builder confidence slipped in July as the National Association of Home Builders Index fell to 64. According to the NAHB, home builders “are growing increasingly concerned over rising material prices, particularly lumber…This is hurting housing affordability even as consumer interest in the new-home market remains strong”. Measures of current sales, sales expectations and buyer traffic declined.
Builders broke ground on more homes as housing starts jumped 8.3% in June to an annual pace of 1.22 million. At the same time, building permits rose 7.4% to an annual 1.25 million.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for second quarter growth rose to 2.5% following last week’s residential construction data.