Succinct Summations for the week ending January 4th, 2018
Positives:
1. Total non-farm payrolls increased by 312k m/o/m, much greater than expected 180k.
2. Stocks (mostly) recovered from a disastrous start to the year; indices tacked on 3-4% Friday;
3. Wages gained 3.2% as more people returned the labor force;
4. Same store sales rose 9.3% w/o/w, up from previous week’s 7.8% increase;
5. PMI services index came in at 54.4, greater than the expected 53.4;
6. December vehicle sales = 17.5m at a SAAR, above the estimate of 17.24m.
Negatives:
1. Home mortgage applications fell a seasonally-adjusted -8.0% w/o/w, down further form previous -7.0% decline.
2. Apple, only recently the world’s biggest company, is now off its highs by ~38%;
3. Number of unemployed rose by 276,000, sending Unemployment rate rose to 3.9%;
4.Jobless claims rose 10k w/o/w, from 221k to 231k.
5. PMI manufacturing index fell from 55.3 to 53.8 in December.
6. December ISM manufacturing index came in at 54.1 for December, missing expected 57.9.