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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- Positive
Money Flow Index-MFI-Positive
More on the Market and the Economy:
After posting its biggest decline of 2017 on Thursday, the S&P 500 rose on Friday, ending the week with a .7% gain, its sixth straight weekly advance.
Source: dshort.com
This week data will be released on the trade deficit, consumer credit and the jobs report.
Pending home sales dropped in January to the lowest level in a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The pending home sales index fell 2.8% on a tightening supply as a “significant shortage of listings last month along with deteriorating affordability as the result of higher home prices and mortgage rates kept many would-be buyers at bay. Buyer traffic is easily outpacing seller traffic in several metro areas and is why homes are selling at a much faster rate than a year ago”.
The economy grew 1.9% in the fourth quarter, weighed by a larger trade deficit even as consumer spending was revised up.
According the Fed’s latest Beige Book, the economy continues to expand at a “modest to moderate pace”, with consumer spending “expanding modestly” while manufacturing “accelerated somewhat”.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model forecast for first quarter growth slipped to 1.8% following the release of consumer spending data.
Manufacturing picked up in February, with the ISM index rising to the highest level in over two years. Measures of new orders, backlog orders and production jumped, while a measure of employment slipped.
The service sector expanded at the fastest pace in over a year in February, as the ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 57.6%, with gauges of new orders, backlog orders and business activity gaining.