As promised, I'm keeping up this blog at least for the week-end report until my computer is back online.  This week I finally succeeded (after great effort)  in getting all the programs transferred to my laptop so that I could take my Dell desktop into the shop for upgrade/repair or replace, which I did on Thursday.  I would hope to get the verdict on upgrade or replaced tomorrow or Tuesday.  If it's an upgrade, I should be back in business by next weekend.  If it's replace, it'll be a bit longer.  Meanwhile, below is the succinct summary of the week's events as promised.  As a supplement, this week I've been following the market on a daily basis again and provide my own one-paragraph summation below as well in order to track the trends.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope everything is back to normal by next weekend.  As soon as we are back to normal, I'll be able to resume sending only to subscribers again.  Thanks for your patience.

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 8.12.16

August 12, 2016 4:30pm by Barry Ritholtz

Succinct Summations for the week ending August 12th, 2016

Positives:

1. S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and NASDAQ all hit all-time highs on the same day for the first time since 1999.
2. Jobless claims fell to 266k and the 4-week average remains low at 262.75k.
3. MBA mortgage composite index rose 7.1% w/o/w and is up 13% y/o/y.
4. Job openings rose 2% to a 5.624 million annualized rate.
5. Import prices rose 0.1% m/o/m, but rose 0.5% when excluding petroleum
6. NFIB small business optimism rose from 94.5 to 94.6, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

Negatives:

1. Nonfarm productivity fell 0.5% q/o/q; the third consecutive decline.
2. Retail sales came in flat, lower than the 0.4% expected increase and down from 0.6% previously.
3. Wholesales inventories rose 0.3%, a build for the second straight month.
4. Import and export prices fell 3.7% and 3%, respectively.
5. Producer prices fell 0.4% in July and are down 0.2% y/o/y.
6. Consumer sentiment came in at 90.4, below the 91 expected, but up from 90 previously.

Markets | Mon Aug 8, 2016 6:17pm EDT

Wall Street takes tiny step back from record highs

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID - RTSJK2P

DJ:   18,529.29  -14.24  NAS: 5,213.14  -0.00    S&P:  2,180.89  -1.98    8/8

Note:  After an entire week of the Dow settling in right around 18,350 it shot up 200 points on Friday on the heels of a very strong jobs report.  Today investors just took a breath, keeping the new high but with very little movement and very little volume. 

 Markets | Tue Aug 9, 2016 4:26pm EDT

Nasdaq hits record high, other indexes hover near highs

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID – RTSJXRE

DJ:   18,533.05  +3.76   NAS:  5,225.48  +12.34   S&P:  2,181.74  +0.85    8/9

Note:  With all the indices remaining at their recent all-time record highs, there was once again very little movement on very low volume as investors continue to weigh stock gains against volatility caused by the current political climate.  

Markets | Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:45pm EDT

Oil slide pulls Wall Street back from record levels

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

 DJ:  18,495.66  -37.39        NAS:  5,204.58  -20.90    S&P: 2,175.49  -6.25  8/10

Note: Oil was the big news again today as a surprise rise in the crude stockpile shocked the markets and drove the Dow down almost a hundred points right out the gate, while good news from Disney was enough to effect enough of a recovery to close just 37 points down.  Volume is still exceedingly light as much money stays on the sidelines awaiting future news.  The economy is doing well, but will it continue?  That is the question that has everyone in wait-and-see mode. 

Markets | Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:25pm EDT

Three major indexes end at records for first time since 1999

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

DJ:  18,613.52  +117.86      NAS: 5,228.40  +23.81      S&P:  2,185.79  +10.30  8/11

Note:  Once again, oil rules the day.  Yesterday it was surprise excess inventories that caused the market to crash, though it did later recover.  Today, it was the Saudis talking about stabilizing production that caused a huge rally carrying all three indices, already riding historic highs, to new records not seen in 18 years.  A boost in retail stocks didn’t hurt either.  Unemployment benefits fell a little bit but volume was still thin at just under 6 billion shares, which means investors are still waiting the next round of news. 

BUSINESS NEWS | Fri Aug 12, 2016 4:51pm EDT

Wall St. ends little changed though Nasdaq hits record high close

By Noel Randewich and Caroline Valetkevitch

DJ: 18,576.47  -37.05      NAS: 5,232.90  +4.50      S&P:      2,184.05  -1.74   8/12

Note:  The rollercoaster trend continued with the Dow dropping 80 points throughout the day and then, after midday, coming back 40 to close 37 down.  Still very light volume of only 5.6 billion which means investors remain in wait-and-see mode.  Still enjoying record highs with the Nasdaq notching it’s 2^nd straight record day.  Drags on the market included flat retail sales but, generally, it’s considered an overvalued environment so caution is in order.