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The markets closed marginally higher yesterday as traders get ready to close the books on a spectacular year.
Retail sales via the Redbook numbers showed a 5.7% y/y increase in sales. This is a sizeable increase vs. last month's snapshot of 4.4%. Analysts noted it was the strongest y/y gain since July 2014.
Pending Homes Sales rose 0.2% last month vs. views for 0.5%. The report showed 'small declines in the West and South' and a 'small gain for the Midwest'. The star of the report was in the Northeast as they showed a 4.1% increase. It went on to say that 'homes sales, both resales and new home sales, have been showing marked acceleration'.
And Consumer Confidence came in at 122.1. That was down from the previous month's 128.6 and the consensus for 128.0. But these levels remain near their expansion highs. In fact, it was just last month that we saw this index reach a 17-year high. And there's plenty of reason to believe that consumer confidence will stay strong in the new year, especially once people start seeing more money in their paychecks in February as the tax cuts kick in.
As 2017 winds down and 2018 gets ready to begin, now is the perfect time to reflect on how you did this year and how you can improve upon that next year. Even though the market kept going up and up, not all stocks went along for the ride. There were plenty of stocks that underperformed the market. In fact, more than half of the stocks in the S&P underperformed this year. And nearly 25% actually went down and lost money! Hard to believe in such a spectacular year. But it's true. And sadly, too many people just bought and held those underperformers, or downright losers, to the bitter end. But it doesn't have to be that way.
So now more than ever, it's important to take note of what you did right this year, what you did wrong, and what you'd like to do differently in the new year. If you're looking for ideas on how to make next year your best year yet, please take a look at our latest commentary...
Position your portfolio for outperformance in 2018 with our most powerful long-term recommendations. From a universe of more than 4,000 stocks these 10 have been handpicked as the best buy-and-hold stocks for the year.
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Small-cap stocks are the biggest beneficiaries of the recent corporate tax cut as they are closely tied to the U.S. economy without much exposure to the international market. Read More »
Economic growth is spurring activity across the globe and thereby some foreign stocks have outperformed the U.S. market based on robust fundamentals. Read More »
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The markets closed marginally higher yesterday as traders get ready to close the books on a spectacular year.
