On Monday, a personal income report for February posted via the Commerce
Department. Personal income data was expected to reveal a moderate gain for
February over the weaker numbers that posted in January. Reports revealed that
consumer spending and incomes rose. Individual spending increased and pending
home sales rose as well. According to Commerce Department statistics that posted
Monday, consumer spending bumped higher by .7 percent and personal incomes rose
by .3 percent. The National Association of Realtors also posted its pending home
sales report. Many hoped that this report would show a moderate increase in
pending home sales for January. It did. It was reported that the index of sales
agreements for homes rose 2.1 percent last January to a reading of 90.8. Stocks
sold off in the final minutes however and indices in the U.S. ended red. The
Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended lower for the first day of the past trading week.
Tuesday, the S&P Case-Shiller home price index for January posted. Economists
expected to see a rise in private sector jobs. The S&P Case Shiller home price
index showed that home prices in January fell 3.1% on an annual basis and 1% on
a monthly basis. Index composites finished higher this day. The Dow Jones
finished green by .67 percent at 12,279.01. The Nasdaq finished higher by .96
percent at 2756.89. The S&P 500 finished the session higher by .71 percent at
1319.44. Preliminary jobs data was positive at the mid-week point. Employers cut
fewer jobs in March and private sector jobs were on the increase. All three
major index composites closed green this day. Thursday brought the governments
data on weekly jobless claims. The claims dropped two weeks ago but were
expected to rise higher this past week. The government's weekly jobless claims
report posted a decline of 6,000 claims to 388,000 during the week ended March
26th. Indices ended mixed on this day. The Dow was off by .17 percent. The Labor
Department posted the jobs report on Friday. This report was viewed by many to
be the most important of the week. It helped to end the week with solid data.
President Obama reported Friday that the economy is showing real signs of
strength. The jobs report, posting from the Labor Department, specifically
relayed that non-farm payrolls increased by 216,000 jobs during March which was
over 20,000 more than what the same report posted in February. The jobless rate
declined as well. The unemployment rate notched lower from 8.9 percent to 8.8
percent. Stocks climbed higher for the week overall. The Dow finished higher by
1.3 percent for the week. Author: Frank Matto
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