All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
US stocks closed at another record high to end the week on a quite week of trading driven by positive economic and corporate earnings reports. The S&P 500 finished over 1,900 for the first time. The S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Dow rose 0.7%. Abroad, Europe rose 0.8% for its sixth straight weekly gain and Japan hit a three week high up 2.6%. The 10 year Treasury yield ended the week up slightly at 2.54% on the positive move in stocks. Article
The most recent manufacturing purchasers index in China showed signs of stabilization.
Sales of existing homes rose 1.3% in April in a positive sign for the housing sector.
New home sales accelerated from March in April, but are down 4.2% from the pace seen last year. Article
Credit Suisse plead guilty to aiding American citizens in tax evasion and agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle the case. Article
AT&T agreed to purchase DirecTV for $49 billion creating a major media and television player that would have 26 million TV subscribers. Article
With 90% of S&P companies reporting the first quarter saw a 2.1% increase in profit down from the 8.5% gain seen last quarter.
GM added another 2.4 million vehicles to its recalled list bringing the total costs for repairing faulty vehicles to $1.7 billion.
HP announced it would cut between 11,000 and 16,000 jobs as it looks to improve operations after posting a drop in revenue.
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