Financial News for the Week Ending May 17th

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 mixed after volatile trading that saw the market hit new highs before a selloff of small cap companies.  Fears over weakening global growth drove the decline.  The Dow and S&P 500 both hit record highs during the week, but the S&P 500 finished flat the Dow finished down 0.6% and the NASDAQ finished up 0.5%.  Internationally, Europe was relatively flat gaining 0.1% and Japan fell 0.7% for the week.  The 10 year Treasury yield hit its lowest point in seven months during the week and finished at 2.52%.  Article

US retail sales rose just 0.1% falling short of expectations of a rebound out of the winter months.  Article

Inflation rose 0.3% in April, the largest increase since last June to bring the annual inflation rate to 2%.  Article

Economic activity in the Euro zone grew at a meager 0.8% annual rate in the first quarter.

Housing starts surged 13.2% in April driven by an increase in multifamily building to their highest level in five months. Also building permits rose 8% to hit the highest level in more than 5 years.

Walmart’s sales fell for a fifth straight quarter and its profit dropped 5%.  The firm also warned that they expect weakness in future quarters.  Article

AT&T agreed to purchase DirecTV for $49 billion creating a major media and television player that would have 26 million TV subscribers.

 

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Raffa Wealth Management is an independent investment advisor providing nonprofit organizations, high net-worth investors, and qualified retirement plans with a full range of investment consulting services.  We were established to fill the need for transparency, clarity, and vision in the professional management of investment assets.   Visit us at www.raffawealth.com

There is no guarantee that any investment strategy, including those described here, will be successful. Any investment or investment strategy can lose money. Past performance does not guarantee or predict future results. You should not assume that any discussion or information contained herein serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Raffa Wealth Management, LLC. This information was gathered from reliable sources, but we cannot guarantee accuracy. Indexes do not reflect the fees associated with actual investments and such fees would reduce the performance illustrated. Source: FMG Suite, LLC.
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