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S&P 500 Reaches New High

Aug 21 2018

new-york-skyscrapers

The longest ever bull market run has now been reached with the S&P 500 reaching a new high this afternoon. The market index reached 2873.23, a new high for the overall top 500 companies traded on the American markets. This bull run is now over 3400 days old.I have personally been holding Direxion Daily S&P500 Bull 3X ETF (SPXL) for a couple of years in retirement accounts. They have performed well and at this time are have been much more successful than cryptocurrencies that I hold at Coinbase.

GDP Now

The market is looking at stronger overall growth as illustrated by the GDP Now forecast and the past GDP report. The Atlanta Federal Reserve board is now forecasting 4.3 percent growth in the US for the upcoming third quarter. For the second quarter GDP was reported at 4.1 percent up from a revised 2.2 percent in the first quarter. The next GDP Now forecast comes out on Friday.

China Tariff Dispute

New hopes on tariff disputes being revolved between the US and China helped push the market higher. Company leaders headed to Washington this week to try to end the idea of more tariffs on Chinese goods. The US government is planning a new round of $200 billion in tariffs but companies are saying the new tariffs will cause price increases on a wide range of products. The markets are optimistic that the Trump administration will listen and that current talks with government leaders will resolve some of the imbalance in trade. President Trump sees the trade imbalance as the largest area that he can affect that will drive the GDP to new heights.

China and Europe should be more open to increased tariffs from the US as the tax cuts put into place earlier this year and the improved US growth rate are delivering even large amounts of exports to America.

Earnings

Home builders are having a strong day after Toll Bothers reported quarterly earnings that caused their stock to jump over 13 percent. Also reporting good numbers was TJ Maxx/Marshall’s with an 11.43% upside to their quarterly release. Target could see a similar positive release when it reporters prior to the opening on Wednesday.

Interest Rates

President Trump helped cool the US Dollar by complaining about the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes that have taken place so far this year. Commodity prices were able to rise with a slight drop in the Dollar. At an Friday fundraising event and this morning to a reporter, the President mentioned that Chairman Jerome Powell was making a mistake by raising rates as the economy was just starting to reached a better level.

S&P 500 Sets New Record High

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