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America’s stock markets attained a couple of milestones this week: the longest bull market ever and, ironically, the longest correction since 1961!  How can we reconcile the two?

Existing home sales suffered a decline in July 2018 according to the National Association of Realtors.  Dropping 0.7 percent, this housing market indicator has fallen for four consecutive months.  July’s tally now posts the slowest transaction pace in over two years.

Economic strength appears to have room to run according to the Conference Board’s July 2018 release of their Leading Economic Index (LEI).  This forward-looking indicator rose 0.6 percent in the period after rising 0.5 percent in June.  Recent strength bodes well for America’s economy in the second half of this year. 

Industrial output edged up 0.1 percent in July 2018 after rising 0.5 percent in June according to the Federal Reserve’s report on Industrial Production.  This indicator is meant to measure everything physically produced or mined in America.  July’s uptick puts the year-over-year tally up 4.2 percent.

Industrial output edged up 0.1 percent in July 2018 after rising 0.5 percent in June according to the Federal Reserve’s report on Industrial Production.  This indicator is meant to measure everything physically produced or mined in America.  July’s uptick puts the year-over-year tally up 4.2 percent.

At our last Pie Party, Jack raised a question about basic definitions regarding terms often thrown around:  bull and bear market.   Well his question led to more questions.  What is a bull market?  When do they start?  How far must a bull market fall before it ends? 

Small business optimism continued riding high as the summer of 2018 heated up.  The optimism index from the National Federation of Independent Businesses reached its second highest level ever in July, rising to 107.9 from 107.2 in June; July 1983 (with a reading of 108.0) is the only period with a higher count in the survey’s 45-year history.

Your federal government went deeper into the hole in July 2018 according to the Treasury Department’s budget release.  Spending outpaced revenues by $76.9 billion, increasing the monthly shortfall by $2.0 billion compared to June.  Year-to-date, the fiscal deficit is $684.0 billion, 20.8 percent deeper than a year ago.