There will not be any Weekly Re-Cap for the week of May 23 to May 30 2014. We are away for some needed R&R.

Have a good week.

The staffs at EGS.

“I measure what’s going on, and I adapt to it. I try to get my ego out of the way. The market is smarter than I am so I bend.” – Martin Zweig

1. Japan’s current account surplus declined in March — Japan’s surplus slumped to ¥116.4B ($1.14B) in March from ¥612.7B in February. It was hurt by weak exports and rising imports and ahead of a hike in sales tax in April. For the fiscal year, the surplus was ¥789.9B, the lowest on record.
2. Retail Sales barely rise in April — Marketwatch, sales at retailers rose a scant 0.1% in April, the Commerce Department reported. Americans boosted spending in March and February after harsh weather kept them mostly indoors in January and December. Easter also took place three weeks later this year — in mid-April instead of the end of March — making it harder for the government to seasonally adjust the numbers.
3. AAII Bullish Sentiment Falls — from Bespoke, bullish sentiment declined from 29.77% down to 28.34%, while bearish sentiment also declined from 29.45% down to 28.7%. Even though both bullish and bearish sentiment showed little in the way of change over the last week, what is notable is that bearish sentiment is now greater than bullish sentiment. This comes as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both hit all-time high.

4. Japan first-quarter growth hits over two-year high — Japan GDP accelerating to an annualized 5.9% from 0.3% in Q4 and past consensus of 4.2%. The economy was boosted by personal consumption soaring 8.5% as shoppers went on a spree prior to sales tax rising to 8% from 5% on April 1. A 4.9% rise in capital expenditure also helped.
5. Eurozone GDP growth held steady at 0.2% in Q1 — Germany maintained its role as the bloc’s engine of growth, with economic expansion doubles in first quarter. France returned to neutral with zero growth after rising 0.2% in Q4 and Italy fell back into contraction of 0.1% following an expansion of 0.1%. The ECB’s vice president said that it is open to further monetary easing to prevent the euro zone from stagnating under an extended period of low inflation.
6. Economists lift 2nd-quarter US growth forecasts — CNBC, economists raised their forecasts for U.S. economic growth in the second quarter and through the balance of 2014. Analysts see the economy growing at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the current quarter, up from a previous estimate of 3.0 percent. Third-quarter growth was forecast to accelerate to 2.9 percent, up from a prior forecast of 2.8 percent, and fourth-quarter growth estimates have been raised to 3.2 percent from 2.7 percent.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: