All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
The US Stock market hit another record high after the surprisingly strong unemployment report. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Dow tacked 0.9% on for the week. Internationally, Japan fell 0.8% and Europe rose 0.4% for the week. The 10 Year Treasury bill ended the week up 0.14% to 2.75% on investors expectation’s that the Fed could begin to curtail their bond purchase program in December. Article
The October unemployment number surprised with 204,000 new employees added beating expectations that were lowered from the government shutdown and debt ceiling fight. Economists had expected a 120,000 gain. The unemployment rate ticked up 0.1% to 7.3%. The increase in the pace of hiring may allow the Fed to act sooner in curtailing their bond purchase program. Article
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter per the first GDP reading released by the commerce department. The rate was up from 2.5% in the second quarter, but much of the growth came from buildup in inventories. Consumers moderated spending over the quarter and businesses cut investments. Article
The EU said that the unemployment rate will likely remain near its current record highs through 2015 due to subdued growth from the country bloc. They project a 1.1% growth rate for 2014 and 1.7% for 2015.
The ECB announced they are cutting their lending rate a quarter point to 0.25% in a surprise move after low inflation readings raised concerns. Article
Hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors agreed to plead guilty to insider trading charges and settled with the government to pay a $1.2 billion fine. The hedge fund can also no longer manage outside investor money.
Twitter’s IPO was a success as it rose 73% from its offering price in its first day of trading. The micro blogging firm now has market cap of $24.93 billion making it bigger than about half the firms in the S&P 500. Article
Blackberry ended its attempt to go private in a $4.7 billion deal and instead will receive a cash infusion of $ 1billion and attempt to restructure with new leadership.
With 75% of members of the S&P 500 reporting earnings to date, they are on pace for a year over year growth of 3.1%, slightly above expectations.
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