The Strength of the Market is: Strong

The Dow Jones hit a record high last week. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, the Dow Jones was up 2% and the Nasdaq jumped 2.1%. The most recent jobs numbers showed that the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2%. In addition, the economy added just 57,000 jobs last month, much lower than Wall Street expectation of over 100,000. With oil prices decreasing and the economy seeming to be slowing down, the Federal Reserve looks to be on hold from increasing interest rates, for now.

Economic reports from last week came back mostly negative:

•Single-Family Home Values - lower than expectation

•Consumer Confidence - lower than expectation

•Job Openings - higher than expectation

•Employment (Private) - lower than expectation

•Employment (Total) - lower than expectation

•Vehicle Sales - higher than expectation

•Construction Spending - lower than expectation

•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation

This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Housing, Consumer Credit and Jobless Claims.