DJIA: 28,823.80 (+0.66%)
NASDAQ: 9,179.00 (+1.75%)
S&P 500: 3,265.35 (+0.94%)
Gold: 1,561.00 (+0.55%)
Copper: 281.05 (+0.84%)
Crude Oil: 59.11 (-6.25%)
We are continually improving and refining Stock Rover based on your feedback, and on our own vision for the product. As we develop new capabilities, we add them into the product on a regular basis. We have written a new blog post that describes the latest additions to Stock Rover. You can read about them here.
In November exports rose by $1.4 billion to $208.6 billion and imports dropped by $2.5 billion to $251.7 billion, narrowing the trade deficit by -8.2% to $43.1 billion, its lowest level since October 2016. Goods exports increased by $1 billion, including drilling equipment (+$0.4 billion), automotives (+$0.4 billion), and jewelry (+$0.4 billion), while goods imports decreased by -$2.9 billion, including drops for civilian aircraft (-$0.6 billion), computers (-$0.6 billion) and cell phones and other household goods (-$0.5 billion). Both service imports and exports increased by +$0.4 billion. The trade deficit with China fell -$2.2 billion to -$25.6 billion, with Chinese imports dropping -$0.8 billion to $34.5 billion and exports to China rising +$1.4 billion to $8.9 billion.
Factory orders fell for the third time in four months in November as drops in new orders for transportation and defense pulled overall orders down by -0.7%. Defense aircraft orders dropped -72.9% to $1.9 billion, ship and boat orders dropped -30.8% to $1.9 billion, and civilian aircraft orders dropped -2.2% to $7.8 billion. Excluding transportation, orders were up +0.3%, and excluding defense, orders were up +0.7%. On a yearly basis, orders were down for civilian aircraft (-38.0%), computers (-26.7%), and defense communication equipment (-17.7%), and were up for industrial machinery (+6.1%), defense search and navigation equipment (+5.7%), and ferrous metal foundries (+5.3%).
There were 145,000 jobs created in December, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 3.5%. Jobs were created in retail (+41.000), leisure and hospitality (+40,000), health care (+28,000), and construction (+20,000), and jobs declined in manufacturing (-12,000), transportation (-10,000), and mining (-8,000). Average hourly earnings were up $0.03 to $28.32, dropping the yearly gain in wages to +2.9% from +3.1%. The more comprehensive U-6 unemployment rate, which includes part time workers and workers marginally attached to the labor force dropped to 6.7% (-0.2%), the lowest rate on record since 1974.
Thursday January 16 – Retail Sales
Friday January 17 – Industrial Production
