Financial News and Portfolio Management Discussion through May 13th

All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.

Driven by disappointing results from brick-and-mortar retailers US stocks fell over the week. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.3% and the Dow fell 0.5% for the week.  Abroad, Japan jumped 2.3% and Europe rose 0.3% for the week.  The yield on the 10 year Treasury eased slightly over the week ending at 2.33%.  Article

Emmanuel Macron easily won the runoff election for the French presidency. A victory for the EU.  Article

US grew at a 0.7% rate in the first quarter while the EU grew 1.8%. Brazil and China are showing growth after two years of contracting.  The IMF has also become more bullish on emerging market prospects.  Consumer sentiment has reached the highest level since 2007 in Europe.

Retail sales rose 0.4% in April the best gain in three months, but fell short of expectations. Article

Consumer sentiment hit its highest reading since the beginning of the year.

The CPI-U rose 2.2% in April from a year earlier, while excluding food and energy it rose 1.9%. The core inflation increase was the first time it has been below 2% since October 2015.

With over 90% of companies in the S&P 500 reporting earnings for the first quarter, earnings are on pace to rise 14%, the fastest annual growth since 2011.

 

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