Benning Financial Group

Randy C. Benning, CFP Presents:

NEW DATA SHOWS BRIGHTER JOBS PICTURE

Unemployment fell to 4.9% in October as firms added 161,000 net new workers, but that was just one positive from the Department of Labor’s latest summary of the U.S. employment situation. Year-over-year wage growth reached 2.8%, the best number seen since June 2009, as average hourly pay rose ten cents last month. The U-6 rate (underemployment + unemployment) fell 0.2% to 9.5%. In addition, hiring totals across August and September were revised higher by 44,000.¹

CONSUMER SPENDING ROSE IN SEPTEMBER

The ninth month of 2016 saw gains of 0.5% in personal spending and 0.3% in personal incomes, the Commerce Department reported last week. Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending advanced 0.3% for September, as opposed to retreating 0.2% in August.²

MORE EXPANSION AMONG SERVICE & FACTORY FIRMS

The Institute for Supply Management’s twin barometers of the U.S. manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors were both comfortably above the 50-mark showing growth in October. ISM’s factory purchasing managers index came in at 51.9, up 0.4 points; its service sector PMI declined 2.3 points to 54.8.³

STOCKS PULL BACK

The Federal Reserve left interest rates alone last week, just as many analysts predicted – but investors were more concerned with the upcoming presidential election and earnings, and those anxieties certainly impeded the bulls. Across five days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.50% to 17,888.28; the S&P 500, 1.94% to 2,085.18; and the Nasdaq Composite, 2.77% to 5,046.37.^1,4

THIS WEEK: Earnings from AMC Entertainment, Dean Foods, Hertz Global, Marriott International, MGM Resorts, Priceline, Rosetta Stone, and Scripps Networks arrive Monday. Tuesday is Election Day, with CVS Health, D.R. Horton, and TripAdvisor joining the fall earnings parade. Wednesday, Wall Street looks at earnings from AmeriGas, Clear Channel Outdoor, Coty, Energizer, Green Dot, Magellan Health, NetEase, Norwegian Cruise Line, Popeye’s, Viacom, and Wendy’s. A new initial claims report comes out Thursday, plus earnings from Kohl’s, Macy’s, Michael Kors, Nordstrom, Nvidia, Ralph Lauren, Sigma Labs, and Walt Disney Co. This Friday is Veterans Day: the stock market is open, the bond market is closed, November’s initial University of Michigan consumer sentiment index appears, and J.C. Penney and Weibo release Q3 results.

Randy C. Benning, CFP®, President, License # 0816882, Benning Financial Group, LLC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Benning Financial Group, LLC, A Registered Investment Advisor, Benning Financial Group, LLC, is not affiliated with Triad Advisors. Securities offered through Triad Advisors Member FINRA, SIPC
Sources: wsj.com, bigcharts.com, treasury.gov – 11/4/16^4,5,6,7

Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends. 10-year TIPS real yield = projected return at maturity given expected inflation.

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. Market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional.

Citations.

1 – tinyurl.com/hmn5mnb [11/4/16]

2 – reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-idUSKBN12V1BM [10/31/16]

3 – instituteforsupplymanagement.org/ISMReport/NonMfgROB.cfm [11/3/16]

4 – markets.wsj.com/us [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=11%2F4%2F15&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=11%2F4%2F15&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=11%2F4%2F15&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=11%2F4%2F11&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=11%2F4%2F11&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=11%2F4%2F11&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=DJIA&closeDate=11%2F3%2F06&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=COMP&closeDate=11%2F3%2F06&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

5 – bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/default.asp?symb=SPX&closeDate=11%2F3%2F06&x=0&y=0 [11/4/16]

6 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyield [11/4/16]

7 – treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/Pages/TextView.aspx?data=realyieldAll [11/4/16]