Category Archives: Economy/Stock Market

On both Monday and Tuesday, the markets saw light trading while the Consumer Price Index showed consumer prices increased 0.2% in February. The core CPI, which excludes energy and food, ticked up 0.2%, twice what economists were expecting. Midweek investors showed their concern over the rising dollar. On Friday, Commerce Department data showed the third and final fourth-quarter GDP reading remained at 2.2%, though shy of an expected uptick to 2.4%.  The final University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index registered a reading of 93, well above the preliminary 91.2, but down from February’s 95.4 reading.

For the week ending March 13, 2015, the Dow and S&P 500 had their third straight week of losses, which sent both back into negative territory for the year.

Friday’s session ended in red territory with Energy stocks leading the way, capping off a volatile week. During the week, stocks traded lower amid a further retreat in oil prices and a variety of economic news. U.S. factory orders declined in November, as new orders for manufactured goods fell 0.7%. However, the week’s news wasn’t all bad. The U.S. foreign trade gap narrowed to $39 billion in November from $42.2 billion in October. The ADP Jobs Report showed the private sector added 241,000 net positions in December, exceeding November’s addition of 227,000.

Now that the midterm elections are over and we have an idea of the direction our government may move in regards to immigration or health care, we wanted to take a look at some sectors we think may be affected by the results.

Friday’s solid employment news wasn’t enough to erase the markets’ tumble for the week.