This was a very good week for the markets as they made up last week’s decline and then some. Both the Dow and the S+P were up roughly 3% for the week, even with a disappointing Friday. The yield on the 10 year Treasury rose 5 basis points to 1.58%. The market mover this week seemed to be the slowing of the spread of the Coronavirus and hints of a possible treatment.
On an economic front, the January employment report was about 50% better than expected as was nonfarm payrolls. Average hourly earnings and unit labor costs both grew at a slower than expected rate, keeping our hopes for low inflation alive.
Next week we get the Q4 household debt numbers as well as the January CPI and retail sales. So far the economy looks like it’s in very good territory and hopefully that continues!
~ Alex
