Fears of a recession are growing as the Federal Reserve continues raising interest rates - creating a year-end stock market sell-off. Stocks notched their second consecutive week of losses. Last week, the Dow Jones was down 1.7%, the S&P 500 fell 2.08% and the Nasdaq lost 2.7%.
Economic reports from last week came mostly negative: •Small Business Optimism - higher than expectation •Manufacturing (New York) - lower than expectation •Manufacturing (Philadelphia) - lower than expectation •Retail Sales - lower than expectation •Jobless Claims - lower than expectation This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Homebuilder Sentiment, New Residential Construction, New & Existing Home Sales, Consumer Confidence & Sentiment, Manufacturing and Jobless Claims.