July 1, 2024

Happy post-debate to you all, here are the numbers: The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were basically flat slipping .01% and the Nasdaq gained slightly more, up .02%. Internationally, the FTSE 100 lost .089% and the MSCI-EAFE added .05%. the 2-year closed at a yield of 4.73% and the 10-year paid 4.35%.

What a week.  Needless to say we have reached a consensus politically. It seems both parties, independents, and your average canine seem to realize that Joe Biden is incapable of continuing another four years. I am sure there are a variety of agenda in play now, but the only question is what will the Democrats do? The market reaction was a big ho-hum, I think they were acknowledging the public finally found out what Wall Street already knew.

Economically, the inflation numbers were basically improving but not enough for the Federal Reserve to do cartwheels and cut rates.

From Market Watch’s Christine Idzelis, “S&P 500 snaps three-week winning streak but U.S. stocks finish June up in 2024, U.S. stocks ended lower Friday, with the S&P 500 snapping three straight weeks of advances as the market closed out the first half of 2024 with gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.20 points Friday, or 0.1%, to close at 39,118.86.

The S&P 500 shed 22.39 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 5,460.48.”

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 126.08 points, or 0.7%, to end at 17,732.60.

For the week, Dow and S&P 500 each slipped 0.1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched a 0.2% weekly gain, rising a fourth straight week.

All three indexes rose in June, with the S&P 500 finishing the first half of 2024 with a 14.5% gain. The Nasdaq has jumped 18.1% so far this year, while the Dow has climbed 3.8% in 2024 through June.

The housing market?  As Market Watch reports, Sales of newly built homes in the U.S. plunged in May, as home buyers scaled back in the face of high mortgage rates. New-home sales were at their lowest level since November.  Home builders are not immune to the toll of high mortgage rates and rising home prices. Builders had recently expressed that they were feeling less confident about the outlook for sales due to elevated mortgage rates, as seen in a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders. Sentiment fell to the lowest level since December.

The cost of your barbeque staples? Compared to a few years ago, food prices are up 25-45%. (however, I hear you can still get a good deal on BUD Light….) Despite the cooling to a flat 2.6% last month the cumulative effect hurts, as the relatively good news is little comfort to those who want to prepare their traditional 4th of July cookout.

As we go not the 4th of July celebrations, the second half of this year will prove to be quite interesting.

More Comments will follow in our quarterly report.

Mike