The U.S. in a Nutshell
The U.S. is slowly getting better. But jobs data is still mixed. Stock market performance has been very strong into this year. Q1 Earnings were good. (What’s Q1? Read: What are Quarters?) And it appears manufacturing and sentiment are picking up.
The S&P 500 is up 10.6% year to date.
What could derail this? Bad news from Europe could destabilize the U.S. Also, the U.S. federal deficit and debt ceiling worries will creep back into the picture. Remember—it was the combination of these two things that created a big sell-off last spring. A sell-off is market slang for prices falling— in this example it was stock market prices falling.
China: In One Sentence
It would appear that China is getting better.
(The Shanghai Index is up 10.4% year to date.)
Europe: Brace Yourselves
The continent is still a disaster. According to the Wall Street Journal, the economies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the UK are all in recession. Greece has already restructured their debt (defaulted). And austerity – a fancy word for ‘no more spending’- is hitting the continent hard.
The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 1.2% year to date
What could help? That’s unclear. Perhaps just time.
But what could hurt? The outcome of the French elections if the Hollande is elected will have an impact. How? Read Seeking Alpha: French Election Impact on Markets
Need a Home?
The U.S. Home Ownership hit a 15 year low in Q1. The percentage of people owning homes is now 65.4%– down from 69.2% peak in 04
For more read: WSJ Article here: Homeownership Rate Declines to a 15 year Low.
Just For Fun:
This weekend, you will probably impress a lot of people with your ability to summarize the world financial picture so eloquently.
Does that really make you interesting? Clearly.
But how do you become even more interesting? Forbes has some thoughts here: How to be More Interesting.
Happy Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby Weekend!
Celebrate with your friends: Send them Bull & Bear here! Or just sign up for free weekly financial summaries in terms we all can understand!
