It’s all eyes on what the market thinks the Fed might do
Retailer woes, the impact of the Fed’s April FOMC minutes and some initial May data points indicating that the economy has not rebounded . . . all three of these developments took what started off as a strong week in the market and threw it into reverse.
Friday’s market rally made the week’s chart of the S&P 500 look more like the quick roller coaster ride it was. Except unlike a roller coaster, the S&P 500 didn’t finish the week where it started, as it closed up 0.3 percent for the week. This modestly reversed the course of the prior few weeks that saw the index move lower. With just a week to go before we shut the books on the second month of the second quarter, the S&P 500 is “all of” 0.4 percent so far in 2016.
In this week’s Monday Morning Kickoff:
- While last week snapped the prior three-week losing streak in the market, we’d remind investors that the market still faces several unknowns in the coming weeks. Read more
- The commentary from department store and clothing retailers are not surprising when matched up against the recent April Retail Sales Report. There were however a number of positives to be had in the same report. Read more
- Fed Chair Janet Yellen and the rest of the FOMC effectively poured a hefty dose of cold water on the market last week, with the market once again jumping the gun when interpreting what the Fed said.. Read more
- There are three major economic items of note that we will be watching this week: the May Flash PMI reports from Markit Economics, the April Durable Orders data, and the the Corporate Profits report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis . Read more
