Market Commentary, 09/10/18

Last week stocks retreated from record highs as the Dow fell 0.2% and the S&P 500 pulled back 1%.  The Nasdaq retraced all of the prior week’s gains, falling 2.6% to close at 7,902.

Continued tension between the United States and China weighed on stocks last week, culminating in President Trump warning that his administration was prepared to roll out more tariffs on Chinese imports. Apple Inc. announced that these proposed tariffs would affect some of its products, to which President Trump responded that they could avoid them all together by manufacturing in the U.S. (www.wsj.com)

With 201,000 U.S. jobs added, the labor report exceeded most economists’ expectations for August. This hiring increase was another solid gain reflecting broad strength in the economy. However, the biggest news was the 2.9% increase in wages, the fastest annual wage growth since June 2009. The average wage of American workers is now $27.16 an hour. (Sherman Sheet)

U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated to a more than 14-year high in August, boosted by a surge in new orders. This is in contrast with economists who warn that the tariffs could disrupt supply chains, undercut business investment and slow the economy’s momentum. (www.reuters.com)

While President Trump’s “America First” trade policy has sparked trade tension, it is hard to ignore the continued positive economic news. In conjunction with wage momentum and manufacturing increases, the GDP (4.2%) is higher than the unemployment rate (3.9%) for the first time since 2006. Our outlook remains positive given the robust economy.

Regards,

Jeremiah Patterson, CFP®
Copelin Financial Advisors
514 Brooks Street
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Phone: 281 240-2902
Fax: 281 240-2856
jeremiah@copelinfinancial.com

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