Week of May 2 2014- Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“Beware when investing turns into speculating” — Warren Buffett
1. UK economy grows at fastest pace in over 6 years — UK ‘S Gross domestic product growth strengthened to its fastest rate in six years in Q1, climbing to +3.1% on year from +2.7% previously.
2. S&P 500 Sector Weightings Changes in 2014 — below is an updated look at the current weightings for each of the ten sectors in the S&P 500 courtesy of BIG. Energy, Utilities, Consumer Staples, Health Care and Telecom have all seen increases in their S&P 500 weightings this year, while Materials, Financials, Technology, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary have lost share.
3. China’s official manufacturing PMI edged up to 50.4 in April from 50.3 in March — the data indicates that manufacturing is just about expanding and adds to HSBC’s flash PMI reading which demonstrates that the sector is contracting.
4. Fed Tapers Bond-Buying by $10B — the Federal Reserve voted unanimously to trim its monthly bond-buying by $10 billion to a monthly pace of $45 billion. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen pointed out there’s “slow but steady loan growth” that she considers an encouraging sign of an improving economy.
5. ISM manufacturing index climbs to 54.9% in April from 53.7% — MarketWatch, the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 54.9% last month from 53.7% in March, marking the highest level since December. That was higher than the 54.4$ forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Readings over 50% indicate more companies are expanding instead of shrinking.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
