Money Watch Weekly Wrap
If investors started the quarter knowing that there would be rolling protests, riots and military action in Northern Africa and the Middle East; an earthquake and tsunami in Japan; and continued European debt worries, you certainly would not have blamed them for running for the hills. Instead, stocks closed out the first quarter with solid gains-in fact, it was the best first quarter since 1998-proving once again, that this Wall Street is one wacky world. At the end of the Q1, the S&P 500 stood 96 percent higher than the March, 2009 lows and 15 percent lower than the October, 2007 peak.
Small stocks, as measured by the Russell 2000, led the way with gains of 7.6%; the Dow was up 6.4%, the S&P 500 gained 5.4% and the NASDAQ added 4.8%. (For international investors, the upside action occurred in Eastern Europe, where the Bulgarian stock market was up 35.1% in US dollars.) But it was commodities that stole the Q1 spotlight: crude oil = +16.8%, corn = +10.2%, cotton = +38.3%.
- DJIA: 12,376, up 1.2% on week, up 6.9% YTD (up 4.3% in two weeks)
- S&P 500: 1332, up 1.4% on week, up 5.9% YTD (up 4.1% in two weeks)
- NASDAQ: 2789, up 1.7% on week, up 5.1% YTD (up 5.5% in two weeks)
- May Crude Oil: $107.94, up 2.4% on week
- April Gold: $1428.10, up 0.1% on week
FACTOIDS OF THE WEEK: Employment Edition (For more, "Jobs Report: March Springs Back")
- March Jobs: +216,000
- Total Jobs created since Feb, 2010: 1.5 million
- Total Jobs lost in recession: 7.7 million
- Unemployment Rate: 8.8 percent, from 8.9 percent in February
- Unemployed persons: 13.5 million, from 13.7 million
- Long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks and over): 6.1 million, 45.5% of total unemployed
- Part-timers (hours cut for economic reasons): 8.4 million
- Median CEO pay 2010: +27% (source: USA Today)
- Total Wages 2010: +2.1% (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Mon 4/4:
Tues 4/5:
10:00 ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
2:00 FOMC Minutes
Weds 4/6:
A House Financial Services subcommittee looks at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Thurs 4/7:
Chain Store Sales
8:30 Weekly Claims
10:00 Consumer Credit
Fri 4/8:
Stopgap funding bill expires
10:00 Wholesale Trade