All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
Global stocks sank over the week on fears of slowing growth in China and mixed earnings reports. The S&P 500 fell 2.2% and the Dow dropped 2.9% for the week. Internationally, Japan was off 0.5% and Europe declined 2.7% for the week. The 10 year Treasury bond saw its yield sink on the global growth concerns to 2.27%. Oil fell to $48.14 a barrel on China’s slowing growth. Article
Existing home prices hit an all time nominal high and grew at their fastest pace in more than 8 years in June. The sales price increased by 6.5% and the pace increased 3.2%. Article
Jobless claims hit a 41 year low, a positive sign for the labor market.
China posted weakening factory activity in July with a reading showing contraction.
Lockheed Martin agreed to buy Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies for $9 billion on a bet military spending will rise. It the largest deal in the defense industry in 20 years. Lockheed also posted a 4.5% growth in profit and raised its forecast for the year both ahead of estimates.
Anthem agreed to purchase Cigna for $48 billion in a further consolidation of the largest US health insurers. Article
Morgan Stanley, GM, Amazon all posted earnings reports that topped Wall Street’s expectations, while IBM, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, Qualcomm, McDonalds, AT&T and United Technologies all missed forecasts.
Anglo American, the UK mining giant, announced it was cutting 53,000 jobs as commodity prices slump.
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