All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
US stocks were down for the week on a large sell off on the first trading day of 2013. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5% for the week while the Dow was off 0.1%. Internationally, Europe was flat over the week, and Japan was up 0.7%. The 10 Year Treasury yield finished the first week of the year at 3.01% down slightly from the previous week. Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese bonds, hit heavily by the European debt crisis, have rallied with improvement in those countries’ economies. Spain’s yields sank to their lowest level in 3 and a half years. Article
The Institute for Supply Management’s December reading on US manufacturing was down slightly from November, but was still near the high for the year and appeared to build momentum going into 2014.
The US auto industry posted its best sales year since 2007. Sales were up 7.6% from 2012 as sales of pickups and SUVs exceeded cars. Article
Unemployment claims in Spain dropped by 107,570 from the previous month well above expectations.
Fiat announced it would be taking full control of Chrysler in a $4.35 billion deal that will allow the two car makers to consolidate and ended the IPO proceedings Chrysler was considering. Article
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