Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 8.31.18 (plus 20 second history of the U.S.)

To conclude this long Labor Day weekend I once again provide the succinct weekly summation below.  The positives this week included a Q2 GDP upwardly revised to 4.2% and a rise in corporate profits of 6.7 percent, more than twice the previous.  The negative was that mortgage applications fell 1 percent as opposed to the previous 3 percent rise.  The bonus this Labor Day is a very nice little animation showing the entire history of the country from colonial days to the present in less than 20 seconds.  This is one you'll probably want to watch a few times.  Hope you all had a great holiday.

Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 8.31.18

August 31, 2018 4:00pm by Barry Ritholtz

Succinct Summations for the week ending August 31st, 2018

Positives:

1. Q2 GDP was revised to a 4.2% annualized rate, 2 tenths higher than expected.
2. 4-week average for jobless claims is down to 212,250, the lowest level since Dec. 1969.
3. Corporate profits rose 6.7% y/o/y, higher than previous 2.7% rise.
4. Same store sales rose 5.1% w/o/w, higher than the previous 4.7% rise.
5. Retail inventories rose 0.4% m/o/m, higher than previous month’s unchanged reading.
6. Wholesale inventories rose 0.7% m/o/m, beating the expected 0.2% rise.
7. Consumer confidence came in at 133.3 for August, higher than previous 127.4.

Negatives:

1. MBA home mortgage applications fell a seasonally adjusted -1% w/o/w, down from previous 3% rise.
2. International trade in goods shows a deficit of -72.2B in July, lower than expected -69.4B.
3. Pending home sales fell 0.7% m/o/m, down from previous 1% gain.
4. Personal income reports shows a 0.3% rise m/o/m, down from previous 0.4% rise.
5. Chicago fed national activity index shows a 0.13 rise for July, missing the expected 0.38.

Mon 9-3-18 History of US Territories & States - The Big Picture