All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
US Stocks ended the week at another record high driven by positive economic news. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Dow gained 0.3% for the week. Internationally, Europe edged up 0.1% and Japan gained 3.6% for the week. The ten year Treasury yield was flat for the week ending at 2.32%. Oil ended the week at $75.82 a barrel just above four year lows hit on Thursday. Article
The October Jobs report showed solid gains with 214,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% as well. While improving there are still 11.5% of Americans who work part time involuntarily or are too discouraged to look for full time work in addition to the traditionally unemployed group.
The eurozone posted a third quarter GDP growth rate of 0.6%, a meager rate, but a positive surprise for the region. Article
US retail sales rose 0.5% in October excluding gas sales as consumers are using gas savings to spend elsewhere. Article
Consumer sentiment rose in October to the highest level since July 2007.
Six global lenders have agreed to settle with regulators in the US UK and Switzerland for a combined a $4.3 B over allegations they colluded to manipulate foreign currency markets. Article
Wal-Mart announced its first quarterly increase in sales since 2012. The 0.5% growth beat its own forecasts and was attributed to a decline in gas prices giving consumers more dollars to spend.
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy battery maker Duracell from P&G and will pay for it through P&G’s own stock. Berkshire Hathaway will give P&G $4.7 billion of its own stock and P&G will inject $1.8 Billion in cash into Duracell. The move creates large tax savings for both companies
China agreed to allow a Shanghai-Hong Kong stock link significantly opening up China to foreign investors.
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