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The stock market surged last week, with
the S&P500 closing above 1,400 for the first time in six
years. The NASDAQ Composite had similar action, moving above
2,450 and the Dow Jones Industrials achieved all-time record
highs. While there was some anxiety over this week's economic
data on inflation, consumer spending, and the housing market,
overall the reports continue to come in the bull's favor.
Lower oil prices helped push inflation
down. Prices were in the $58 to $59 per barrel range until
Thursday when industry
reports said that U.S. storage facilities were full. That
helped push prices even lower, and they closed around $56
per barrel, according to Barron's Online.
One flickering bulb that could dim the
market's positive
outlook is housing. Last week's release of the Federal
Reserve's Open Market Committee minutes revealed the
Fed's belief that housing may be a substantial drag
on growth during the next year.
To echo the Fed's concern, in a conference
call last week, Chief Executive Don Tomnitz of homebuilder
D.R. Horton
said he expects the next two quarters to be even worse and
that he expected the industry would be rebounding by the
end of 2007. Tomnitz also said, "We're in the early stages
of a declining market. Most (home building) downturns are
longer
and deeper than we envision at the beginning."
Let's hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
| Returns through 11/17/06 |
1-Week |
Y-T-D |
1-Year |
3-Year |
5-Year |
10-Year |
| Dow Jones Industrials |
1.9 |
15.2 |
14.6 |
7.6 |
4.0 |
6.5 |
| Nasdaq Composite |
2.4 |
10.9 |
12.3 |
7.7 |
4.3 |
6.7 |
| Standard & Poor's
500 |
1.5 |
12.3 |
12.3 |
9.8 |
3.7 |
6.5 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance, Barrons
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices
are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.
Three-,
5-, and 10-year returns are annualized. Assumes dividends are
not reinvested.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Americans
have always given thanks—just not always in November.
Giving thanks is a longstanding American tradition. However,
few people realize that Thanksgiving hasn't always been
celebrated in November. Here are some interesting facts about
the holiday:
- During the American Revolution—long
before Thanksgiving became a national holiday—the
Continental Congress would recommend that states observe
one or two days
of Thanksgiving each year.
- Beginning with George
Washington, presidents would declare Thanksgiving days
each year. They were not usually held in the Fall.
- President
Abraham Lincoln was responsible for making Thanksgiving
a national holiday. He set the date as the last Thursday
in November.
- During the depression, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving so that
it fell earlier in November. He wanted
to give retailers more time to sell before the holidays—and
advertising before Thanksgiving was considered to be crass!
- Thanksgiving
Day, as we know it, was signed into law in 1941.
During Thanksgiving, and throughout the year, we are thankful
for your business and your friendship. Please let us know
whenever there is something we can do to help you.
Weekly Focus — If you're
like me, you find that time just flies by. Here's a
question to work on during your spare time!
The number of
hours that were left in the day was one-third of the number
of hours already passed.
How many hours were
left in the day?
Answer to last week's riddle:
The friends paid $27 dollars ($9 each). The two dollars the
bellhop kept should be subtracted from this amount, not added
to it. If you add the $5 that was returned by the clerk ($3
were received by the friends and $2 were kept by the bellhop)
to the $25 the friends paid, you have $30. Happy Thanksgiving!
Ken Ford
P.S. Please feel free to forward
this commentary to family, friends, or colleagues.
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