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Thoughts to Ponder and The Market Update July 10

Thoughts to Ponder and The Market Update July 10
July 10, 2017 abryant

 

Thoughts to Ponder . . .

  • When inspiration does not come to me, I go halfway to meet it.
  • I just finally discovered what’s wrong with my brain: on the left side there is nothing right and on the right side, there is nothing left.
  • My six pack is protected by a layer of fat.

And Now on to The Market Update . . .

FOMC Minutes

Why should the Fed be any different than the rest of the United States Government?

  •  Everyone already knows that Congress could not be more divided.
  • Well…the Fed appears to be divided as well.
  • The latest FOMC Minutes show that many policy makers want the Fed to start unwinding the Fed’s balance sheet that has grown to enormous proportions ever since the great recession.
  • However, some policy makers are steadfast in wanting to hold off until later in the year to begin this process.
  • The labor market continues to remain red hot with more jobs available than qualified applicants to fill them.
  • The challenge that exists to the Fed is that inflation continues to remain ultra-low and making changes to economic policy could cause unintended consequences of hurting the economy.
  • Given that there continues to be a number of mixed economic reports, as of late, it seems that many analysts are shying away from predicting when the Fed will make the next rate hike or begin to unwind the bloated balance sheet.

Manufacturing

  • ISM’s manufacturing index indicates the fire in the sector has returned.
  • The latest report for June is at a level of 57.8.
  • This is higher than experts were predicting and shows that demand for production is strong.
  • This is the strongest report since August of 2014.

Non-Manufacturing

  • ISM’s non-manufacturing index, which reports on services, construction, mining, forestry, fishing, and hunting, also showed a strong gain in June.
  • The index jumped from 56.9 to 57.4 and demonstrates that these areas of the economy continue to maintain solid growth as well with no signs of slowing.

This week’s potential market moving reports are:

  • Monday July 10th – Labor Market Conditions Index
  • Tuesday July 11th – JOLTS Report
  • Wednesday July 12th – MBA Mortgage Applications
  • Thursday July 13th – First Time Jobless Claims, Producer Price Index
  • Friday July 14th – Consumer Price Index, Retail Sales, Industrial Production