Economic update for the week ending October 20, 2018

Stocks end week mixed after three weeks of declines –As corporate earnings season began the early reporting companies for the most part reported strong third quarter corporate profits. Analysts expect profits to be in the range of those reported in the second quarter when most companies showed double digit gains. That was enough to overcome fears of higher interest rates and trade concerns to keep stocks from recording a fourth losing week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 25,444.34, up slightly from 25,339.99 last week. It is up 2.9% year to date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,767.78, unchanged from 2,767.13 last week. It’s up 3.5% year to date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 7,449.03, down from 7,496.89 last week. It’s up 7.9% year to date.
Treasury Bond Yields higher this week –Bond yields dropped this week after reaching multi year highs last week. The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 3.20%, up from 3.15% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 3.38%, up from 3.32% last week. We watch treasury bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.

Mortgage rates off last week’s eight year high –The October 18, 2018 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 4.85%, down from 4.90% last week. The 15-year fixed was 4.26%, down slightly from 4.29% last week. The 5-year ARM was 4.10%, up from 4.07% last week.
Next week we will have September housing sales numbers, and California job numbers for September.
Author, 
​Syd Leibovitch