WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) —
The index of leading economic indicators fell 0.3% in June to 95.6, mostly
reversing the increase in May, the Conference Board reported Thursday…“The U.S.
economy is growing very slowly. The CEI basically reflects this steady but soft
pace of overall economic activity,” said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the
Conference Board.” Story at…
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leading-economic-index-declines-in-june-2012-07-19
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -
Factory activity in the Philadelphia
region contracted for the third straight month in July, the Philadelphia
Federal Reserve Bank said Thursday…”Recent readings from the Philly Fed index
are in sync with other data showing the manufacturing sector encountering
significant difficulty, which unfortunately only promises to get worse as
exports suffer and growth in domestic demand remains anemic at best,” said Josh
Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc.”
Story at…
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philly-factory-activity-stays-weak-in-july-2012-07-19-101033855
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -
U.S. weekly
jobless claims shoot back up - Applications for benefits jump 34,000 to 386,000
“Given seasonal adjustment challenges
relating to annual summer shutdowns in the auto industry, the information value
of claims is limited right now,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at
High Frequency Economics. “The data should become “clean” again in the next
couple of weeks.” Still, the current level of claims
indicates hiring in the U.S. remains soft.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-weekly-jobless-claims-shoot-back-up-2012-07-19
The above 3-articles don’t
paint a pretty picture, but the Market is having none of it; it’s headed
higher.
MARKET
Thursday
the S&P 500 finished up 1/4% to 1377.
The VIX fell 4% to 15.45..
NTSM
The NTSM analysis is BUY Thursday
at the close.
Market internals look good
too. VIX has fallen significantly. Makes no sense to me; but I will follow the
market and the NTSM system.
MY INVESTED POSITION
Based on the BUY signal, 6
July, I moved back into the market on 9 July (after the weekend) at S&P 500
1352. I now have a 50% stock
allocation. I am underweight my usual
aggressive allocation for stock because there’s a lot of risk now.
