Last week the market was pretty flat, and economic reports were sparse. One that was released was:
The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators rose 0.2% in October, following a 0.4% increase in September (revised upward from 0.1%). It was the first time the index achieved consecutive monthly gains in 2006. Six of the index’s ten components, most notably real money supply, increased in October.
Good news last week on inflation: falling energy costs brought teh CPI down 0.5% in October.
Gas prices have fallen, dropping retail sales, but factoring out fuel and auto sales they were up 0.3%
October’s housing starts plunged and new residential construction was down 15% from last year in October. Permits for new housing (a key indicator of future demand) fell about 6%.
For the week the S&P 500 was down 0.9%. This followed a streak of five consecutive weekly gains. Profit-taking and economic outlook concerns were likely drivers.
Third Quarter productivity growth was reported at zero growth
Oil prices ended the week little changed at $59 a barrel
October’s nonfarm payroll employment increased 92,000 (below expectations, but followed upwardly revised +139,000 jobs the past two months).
Unemployment fell to 4.4% (the lowest since May of 2001)
September’s personal income rose 0.5% (above expectations). Core inflation grew 0.2%, but overall it fell 0.3% due to falling energy prices.
September saw continued weakening in residential construction, although nonresidential construction advanced. Total construction spending was up 2.9% from last year.
October’s consumer confidence slipped to 105.4 (108 was expected)
October saw manufacturing growth slowing for the third consecutive month. The ISM Manufacuring index slid to 51.2 (barely above 50, which indicates expansion)
September’s factory orders increased slightly by 2.1%-below expectations, although that follows two months of declines.
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