Once again, the expected quiet summer week was instead filled with action. With analysts of all stripes analyzing every aspect of the changes in the Trump Administration, the financial punditry will do the same. Ignoring the politics and personalities, we are still left with a question that is important to investors:

 

Is a Market-Friendly Policy Agenda Now in Peril?

Last Week Recap

My notion that last week would be all about Korea and a possible correction was only half right. The Charlottesville events, the aftermath, and the President’s reactions took center stage. The turmoil once again offered a reason to sell. Once again this occurred despite a good week for economic data.

The Story in One Chart

I always start my personal review of the week by looking at this great chart from Doug Short via Jill Mislinski.

Doug has a special knack for pulling together all the relevant information. His charts save more than a thousand words! Read the entire post for several more charts providing long-term perspective, including the size and frequency of drawdowns.

The Silver Bullet

As I indicated recently I am moving the Silver Bullet award to a standalone feature, rather than an item in WTWA. I hope that readers and past winners, listed here, will help me in giving special recognition to those who help to keep data honest. As always, nominations are welcome!

The News

Each week I break down events into good and bad. For our purposes, “good” has two components. The news must be market friendly and better than expectations. I avoid using my personal preferences in evaluating news – and you should, too!

The economic news last week was generally positive.

The Good

• North Korea backed off from a threatened missile launch toward Guam. There were some signs that diplomacy might prevail over military escalation.
• Retail sales increased 0.5%, handily beating expectations of 0.3%. New Deal Democrat notes both the strength and upward revisions to prior numbers. Steven Hansen (GEI) confirms the interpretation with his year-over-year, rolling average approach. E-commerce sales continued to lead, growing 16.2% year-over-year. Horan Capital Advisors has more detail, including this chart.

• LA port traffic is the busiest ever. (Calculated Risk).
• Michigan sentiment jumped to 97.6. Doug Short’s great chart shows how this compares with past highs and with GDP.

• NAHB housing market index moved much higher (68 v last month’s 64) and handily beat expectations of 65.
• Leading indicators, jobless claims and industrial production matched the positive expectations.

The Bad

• Rail traffic remains in contraction when analyzed without coal and grain. Steven Hansen (GEI).
• Building permits and housing starts both declined and missed expectations. Calculated Risk notes that multi-family is volatile, mostly moving sideways, but down 35% year-over-year. Single-family starts are up 10.9% year-over-year.

The Ugly

The cholera outbreak in Yemen has now spread to 500,000 people in the last four months. Stat provides perspective and describes the struggle to fight this disease. 30,000 health care workers have not been paid in more than a year.

Noteworthy

Better Congressional procedures would encourage more efficient attention to legislation. The Bipartisan Policy Center does a six-month review of the 115^th Congress. Questions like number of days worked, use of committees, and delays are part of this analysis.

The Week Ahead

We would all like to know the direction of the market in advance. Good luck with that! Second best is planning what to look for and how to react.

The Calendar

It is a modest economic calendar, with continuing summer vacations for many. Will there finally be a quiet week? I am especially interested in New Home Sales.

The Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium begins on Friday. Chair Yellen is the headline speaker, with the topic of “financial stability.” ECB President Mario Draghi will attend, but is not scheduled to speak.

Briefing.com has a good U.S. economic calendar for the week (and many other good features which I monitor each day). Here are the main U.S. releases.

Next Week’s Theme

Once again, the idea of a slow summer week, with Presidential and Congressional vacations, was completely wrong! The Charlottesville story is vitally important, but not so much for financial markets. The Administration’s controversial handling of the issue pushed it front and center. We can expect a focus on a specific threat:

Will the Trump team turmoil threaten the legislative agenda?

Last week’s decline proved to be a dip. Will this week be the same? Opinions differ sharply.

I forced myself to listen to pundit speculation, just so I could summarize the wild range. Please remember that our interest is not about the political and personal ramifications of events. My concern here is what this means for financial markets and our investments. Here is the speculation:

• The Trump Administration has been crippled, preventing any progress on his important agenda.
• The loss of key advisors will leave the Administration without needed expertise. (This was often cited as the proximate cause of mid-week market weakness).
• The Bannon departure improved the chances for cooperation with Congress. (This was cited as the cause of Friday’s short-lived rebound. It was even cheered on the NYSE floor by the largely Republican traders).
• The Bannon departure would weaken the Administration because he would now attack from outside. He could also pressure members of Congress who could face primary challenges from the right.
• And finally, anyone who has been calling for a correction will inform you that “the time is now.” The claim is that a correction-ready market simply needs an excuse.

Last week I cited some sound, dependable sources about Korea – material worth reading. This week you will be bombarded with viewpoints whether you want to be or not. Play golf. Go fishing. See a ball game. Spend time with your family. Most of the commentary serves a specific political or market viewpoint.

As usual, I’ll have more in my Final Thought, emphasizing the key issues we should be watching.

Quant Corner

We follow some regular featured sources and the best other quant news from the week.

Risk Analysis

I have a rule for my investment clients. Think first about your risk. Only then should you consider possible rewards. I monitor many quantitative reports and highlight the best methods in this weekly update.

The Indicator Snapshot

The Featured Sources:

Bob Dieli: Business cycle analysis via the “C Score.

RecessionAlert: Strong quantitative indicators for both economic and market analysis.

Brian Gilmartin: All things earnings, for the overall market as well as many individual companies.

Doug Short: Regular updating of an array of indicators. Great charts and analysis.

Georg Vrba: Business cycle indicator and market timing tools. It is a good time to show the chart with the business cycle indicator.

James Picerno’s business cycle work also has a positive, data-driven conclusion.

The US economy continued to exhibit a moderate growth bias through July. Although the monetary backdrop still presents a mild headwind, the majority of key indicators published to date suggest that recession risk remains low.

Near-term projections of the macro trend also point to a low probability that the economy will suffer a dramatic deterioration. The eight-year-old US expansion, in short, still looks resilient at the moment.

Insight for Traders

We have not quit our discussion of trading ideas.

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