The Strength of the Market is: Strong but Weakening

Stocks were volatile last week as oil prices surged following President Trump's remarks that the Iran war would continue for weeks. More volatility should be expected, at least in the near future. Oil prices will likely stay higher for longer and even when prices come back down, a continued inflationary impact on the economy may exist. On a positive note, the jobs market bounced back in March. The economy added 178,000 jobs in March, much higher than Wall Street expectations. The unemployment rate went down to 4.3%. Last week, stocks were up - the S&P 500 was up 3.4%, the Dow Jones rose roughly 3% and the Nasdaq gained 4.4%.

Economic reports from last week came back mostly negative:

•Consumer Confidence - higher than expectation

•Job Openings - in-line with expectation

•Employment (Private) - higher than expectation

•Employment (Total) - higher than expectation

•Retail Sales - higher than expectation

•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation

This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Consumer Credit, Personal Income, Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Consumer Sentiment and Jobless Claims.