Succinct Summations for the week ending December 1st, 2017

Below please find the usual Sunday night weekly summary with the broken record continuing that again all indexes have reached new all-time highs.  Economic data remains strong and what did not make this report since it didn't happen until ten hours after this was posted, was that the tax bill passed in the Senate in the wee hours of Saturday morning by a 51-49 vote, though there remain weeks of negotiations ahead between the House and the Senate. 


The bonus this week is a very telling graphic that at least partially explains the rise of conservatism.  This chart is just for the past year but it could just as easily apply to the last ten.  If anger and political activism is rooted in jobs or the lack thereof, this picture shows pretty clearly that the red states have been faring quite a lot worse than the blue in that department.  Hope everyone had a great weekend. 

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 12.1.17

December 1, 2017 4:30pm by Barry Ritholtz

Succinct Summations for the week ending December 1st, 2017

Positives:

1. Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, and Russell 2000 each hit new all-time highs.
2. Corporate profits rose to an annualized rate of $1.86 trillion, a new record.
3. Personal income rose 0,4%, above the 0.3% expected increase.
4. Q3 GDP was revised from 3% to 3.3%.
5. New home sales rose to a 685k annualized rate, above the 620k expected; Pending home sales rose 3.5%, above the 1% expected increase.
6. Consumer confidence rose from 125.9 to 129.5, above the 124.5 expected.
7. Flynn plea deal means we are inching closer to a resolution of this entire sordid Russian meddling debacle.

Negatives:

1. Initial jobless claims came in at 238k. The 4-week moving average rose from 239.75k to 242.25k.
2. PMI manufacturing slowed from 54.6 to 53.9, still a fine reading.
3. Core PCE rose 0.2%, in line with expectations, which could give the Fed enough reason to move this month.
4. ISM manufacturing fell from 58.7 to 58.2, (still a decent reading).
5. Flynn plea deal means more volatility and potentially more erratic behavior from POTUS during a challenging period for international relations.

 Marias 12-3-17 Red vs Blue States in Job Recovery - The Big Picture