The Strength of the Market is: Strong but Weakening

For investors, fear is increasing and nervousness is growing. On Friday, the Dow Jones suffered its worst one-day loss since October of 2020 and the S&P 500 experienced its worst day since March. Last week, the Dow Jones was down 1.9%, the S&P 500 was lower by 2.8% and the Nasdaq lost 3.8%. Investor confidence is fading fast as economic growth has been under threat from the high costs of inflation - causing much economic pain for stock prices, businesses and consumers alike. Now, the Federal Reserve has the essential responsibility of taming the worst inflation crisis since 1981.

Economic reports from last week came back mostly negative: •Homebuilder Sentiment - worse than expectation •New Residential Construction - better than expectation •Existing Home Sales - worse than expectation •Manufacturing (Philadelphia) - worse than expectation •Jobless Claims - worse than expectation This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like National Activity, Manufacturing, Single-Family House Prices, New Home Sales, Pending Home Sales, Consumer Confidence & Sentiment and Jobless Claims.