US Capital Markets Review 11/16/18

This week was a bad one for the US Capital Markets as all major indicies declined. The worst were the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq at -2.2% for the week each. The S&P 500 and Russel 2000 finished at -1.6% and -1.4%, respectively, for the week. Value stocks edged out growth stocks, and the results were about the same between small, mid and large cap stocks.

In terms of sector performance, consumer discretionary took a dive this week after having a strong year at -3.8%. Information technology also struggled for the week at -2.5%. The bright spot was real estate, which posted a weekly gain of +0.8%. Gold was up +1.0% for the week, closing at $1,222 per ounce. Silver was up as well at +1.8% for the week, closing at $14.39 per ounce. Oil posted a weekly loss of -5.6% and closed at $56.81 per barrel (West Texas Intermediate).

Not too much of significance in terms of economic and political news. Inflation and consumer price index numbers were good, and there was promising talk of slowing tariffs between US and China.

Cryptocurrencies had a very bad week. Bitcoin was down -13% for the week, and closed at $5,550. Steem didn’t get a steemfest bump and was pulled down with the rest of the alt market with a weekly loss of -20% and is currently at $0.60. EOS did not fare much better posting a weekly loss of -15%, currently at $4.60.

Overall, the US capital markets remain volatile and the outlook for the rest of the year is quite uncertain.

Good luck,

Brian