“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

1. Service Sector Increased in April — the ISM ‘s nonmanufacturing survey for April showed stronger services at 55.2. New orders increased 5 points to 58.2. Business activity and new export orders each rose 7.5 points to 60.9 and 57. Employment was the weak spot and it shed 2.3 points to 51.3.
2. China Factory Data Decrease — the Market/HSBC manufacturing PMI measure for April was 48.1. It was the 4th month in contraction. Output and new work declined over the month, employment fell a 3rd straight month and prices decreased.
3. Annual home-price growth posts sharpest slowdown in three years — according to data released, home prices rose in March, with certain regional markets posting fresh peaks, while the U.S. as a whole saw a sharp slowdown in annual growth. Looking at a longer-term trends, prices are slowing down, with dropping affordability cutting demand. For the year through March, home prices rose 11.1%, a notable slowdown from annual growth of 11.8% in February, which was the fastest pace in eight years.
4. Alibaba filed for an IPO in the U.S. — it is expected to be one of the largest in history. Forecasts on valuation range as high as $245B for the company that earns more revenue than Amazon and eBay combined. Last year, Alibaba handled about $248B in transactions. Yahoo (YHOO) has a 22.6% piece of the Alibaba pie, while SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBF) holds 34.4%.
5. China’s inflation slowed to an 18-month low — China’s (FXI) inflation decreased to 1.8% in April from 2.4% in March. Factory-gate prices (PPI) dropped for the 26th consecutive month with a decline of 2%. With other data indicating that China’s economy is slowing down, economists attributed the fall in CPI to a weakness in demand.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: