The political process never seems to end in MA…we are faced with an important Special Election to US Senate. With a complete change in Senate leadership for the Commonwealth, we need a strong Junior Senator that can focus on building economic value for local business.
A key Market milestone occurred on March 6 with the Dow Jones Industrial Average of the 30 selected companies achieving an all-time record level of 14,296.24, up 42.47 or .3%. The previous record of 14,253.77 occurred on October 9, 2007.
The News
HOUSING: US Residential Construction Permits rose 1.8% in January to 925,000 units, up 35.2% over January 2012. However, Housing Starts were down 8.5% to 890,000 units, up 24% from January 2012 (Commerce Department).
The National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Homebuilder Index fell to 46 in February reflecting economic uncertainties and a leveling-out of activity.
US sales of Single-Family Homes were up 15.6% in January to 437,000 units, up 29% from January 2012 (Commerce Department).
UNEMPLOYMENT: The US Unemployment Rate dropped to at 7.7% from 7.9% with the addition of 236,000 jobs in February (Department of Labor).
BUSINESS: The MA Business Confidence Index fell into negative territory at 49 reflecting concern over the impact of Federal cutbacks (Associated Industries of MA).
January Retail and Food sales were $416.6 billion, up 0.1%, and 4.4% higher than in January 2012. Without Autos, Retail and Food sales were $339 billion, up 0.2% (Commerce Department).
MANUFACTURING: January New Factory Orders for Durable Goods were down 5.2% to $217 billion. Without Transportation, new orders rose 1.9%. However, Overall Shipments were down 1.2%; Capital Goods Shipments were down 2.8%; Unfilled Orders were down 0.2%; and Inventories were up 0.2% (Commerce Department).
Real GDP was up 0.1% in Q4 2012; and up 2.2% in 2012 (Commerce Department).
US Trade Exports were down 1.2% to $185 billion (Commerce Department).
CONSUMERS: Personal income reported in January was down 3.6% (Commerce Department). Remember: Consumers felt increased taxes post 12/31/12 from the Fiscal Cliff.
The news is mixed, but showing gradual positive economic improvement. We still have not dealt with the expanding US Budget Deficit as the can has now been kicked to May. And the mandated Federal cutbacks, via Sequestration, will ripple through the States over the next several months affecting Federal contractors, research institutions, and the like. Although we enjoy the gains, the equity market has put these issues in a closet and have focused on corporate earnings without corporate expansion.
Looking forward, our focus continues on health care, medical, dental, discount retail, and energy.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Sloane
Sloane Capital Advisors, LLC.
W: 617-699-9899
C: 617-633-0642
T: @JGSloane
jgsloane@sloanecapitaladvisors.com
http://www.sloanecapitaladvisors.com
JGSloane 