BetterTrades

This Week's Market Review

The market fell this past week as concerns grew about the economic outlook. Although most of the news was bearish, the market, however, was able to minimize its losses. Early in the week, durable goods orders reported an 8.3% drop, mainly due to a fall in aircraft orders. Also adding to the bearish sentiment was consumer confidence falling during the month of November along with same store retail sales coming in on the soft end. Some positive news included third quarter real GDP being revised to a 2.2% annual rate from the previously reported 1.6% rate. On the inflation front, the October PCE core deflator rose 0.2%, above the expected 0.1%, showing the easing the Fed is looking for is not yet apparent. More bad news came at the end of the week when the ISM manufacturing survey came in at 49.5, showing a contraction in the manufacturing sector for the first time since 2003. Going forward, the market will keep a close watch on economic data as there is general concern that after a four month rally any negative news will result in a pullback in the weeks ahead.

The DOW closed the week down, losing 86.04 points to close at 12194.13. The S&P fell 0.3%, dropping 4.23 points, ending the week at 1396.72. The NASDAQ lost 1.9%, shedding 47.05 points, ending the week at 2413.21.