Report for the 8th week of the year spanning Friday February 17th to Friday February 24th 2023.
The top performing assets year-to-date (YTD) so far have all been cryptocurrencies except this weeks Spain’s IBEX Index has made the 10th spot with a YTD gain of 11.8%. View header image in full screen.
Economic Reports
Monday Feb 20th
- US Markets were closed for the observance of President’s Day
Tuesday Feb 21st
- IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI – Prelim for February was 47.8, up from January’s 46.9
- IHS Markit Services PMI – Prelim for February was 50.5, up from January’s 46.8
- Existing Home Sales for January decreased 0.7% to an annual adjusted rate of 4.0 million, lower than the expected 4.12 million.
Wednesday Feb 22nd
- MBA Mortgage Applications Index for last week decreased by 13.3% compared to the prior week decrease of 7.7%
Thursday Feb 23rd
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week decreased by 3,000 to 192,000 new claims reasonably under expected of 200,000
- Continuing Jobless Claims decreased by 37,000 to 1.654 million
- EIA Natural Gas Inventories declined last week by 74 bcf the previous week inventories decreased by 100 bcf (billion cubic feet)
- EIA Crude Oil Inventories increased by 7.65M barrels last week compared to prior week increase of 16.28M
- GDP – Second Estimate Q4 was revised down to 2.7% from the first estimate of 2.9%
- GDP Deflator – Second Estimate Q4 was revised up to 3.9% from the first estimate 3.5%
Friday Feb 24th
- Personal Income for January increased 0.6% month-over-month following a 0.3% increase in December
- Personal Spending for January increased 1.8% month-over-month following a 0.1% decrease in December
- PCE Prices for January increased 0.6% month-over-month following a 0.2% increase in December
- PCE Prices – Core for January increased 0.6% month-over-month following a 0.4% increase in December
- New Home Sales for January increased 7.2% month-over-month to an annualized adjusted rate of 670,000 units, higher than estimated 620,000 units
- University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment – Final for February was 67.0 sightly higher than the preliminary report 2 weeks ago of 66.4, and up from January’s 64.9
See more Economic News at Briefing.com or learn about each economic report on our education page.
US Stocks
US stocks were reasonably down this week loosing an average of 2.77%. The DJIA moved into negative territory this week for YTD performance, down 1.0% YTD. Energy was the only sector that managed to move higher this week but just barely with a 0.17% gain. Consumer Discretionary lead this decliners this week loosing 4.44% followed closely by Communication Services down 4.37% and Real Estate down 3.78%.
| Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJIA | 32,816.92 | -1,009.77 | -2.99% | 32,643.48 | 33,699.69 | -1.00% | ||
| Nasdaq | 11,394.94 | -392.33 | -3.33% | 11,334.47 | 11,803.22 | 8.87% | ||
| S&P 500 | 3,970.04 | -109.05 | -2.67% | 3,943.08 | 4,052.35 | 3.40% | ||
| Wilshire 5000 | 39,690.74 | -1,128.82 | -2.77% | 39,690.74 | 40,120.15 | 4.25% |
| Sector Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Services | 172.39 | -7.88 | -4.37% | 172.39 | 176.14 | 8.17% | ||
| Consumer Discretionary | 1,117.47 | -51.98 | -4.44% | 1,117.47 | 1,136.21 | 11.14% | ||
| Consumer Staples | 758.81 | -10.79 | -1.40% | 758.81 | 767.01 | -2.61% | ||
| Energy | 645.32 | 1.12 | 0.17% | 637.29 | 645.39 | -4.02% | ||
| Financials | 592.38 | -11.90 | -1.97% | 590.93 | 592.38 | 3.97% | ||
| Health Care | 1,495.64 | -41.10 | -2.67% | 1,495.64 | 1,515.77 | -5.67% | ||
| Industrials | 846.99 | -23.75 | -2.73% | 846.99 | 851.92 | 1.88% | ||
| Information Technology | 2,372.37 | -66.07 | -2.71% | 2,372.37 | 2,415.19 | 9.22% | ||
| Materials | 511.33 | -0.67 | -0.13% | 503.68 | 511.33 | 4.45% | ||
| Real Estate | 239.51 | -9.41 | -3.78% | 239.51 | 244.05 | 3.07% | ||
| Utilities | 337.17 | -9.68 | -2.79% | 337.17 | 340.31 | -5.94% |
Global Stocks
Stocks around the world were also all down this week except China’s Shanghai Composite Index managed to post a gain of 1.34% meanwhile Hong Kong’s Hang Seng posted the largest global loss of the week down 3.43%.
| Global Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK FTSE 100 | 7,878.66 | -125.70 | -1.57% | 7,870.39 | 8,020.13 | 5.73% | ||
| France CAC 40 | 7,187.27 | -160.45 | -2.18% | 7,187.27 | 7,366.07 | 11.02% | ||
| Spain IBEX 35 | 9,201.50 | -131.53 | -1.41% | 9,118.50 | 9,369.10 | 11.82% | ||
| Germany DAX 40 | 15,209.74 | -272.26 | -1.76% | 15,162.48 | 15,552.77 | 9.24% | ||
| India BSE Sensex | 59,463.93 | -1,538.64 | -2.52% | 59,325.34 | 61,290.19 | -2.26% | ||
| China Shanghai Comp | 3,267.16 | 43.14 | 1.34% | 3,225.84 | 3,308.79 | 5.76% | ||
| HK Hang Seng 50 | 20,010.04 | -709.77 | -3.43% | 20,006.78 | 20,973.67 | 1.16% | ||
| Japan Nikkei 225 | 27,453.48 | -59.65 | -0.22% | 27,046.08 | 27,538.29 | 5.21% | ||
| Australia ASX 200 | 7,307.00 | -39.80 | -0.54% | 7,267.80 | 7,357.50 | 3.81% |
Currencies
The US Dollar gained around the globe this week except against the Columbian Peso falling 1.19% which is retreating from near all time highs. The dollar gained the most against the Russian Ruble this week up 3.22%.
| FX Rates | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAD Canadian Dollar | 1.3605 | 0.0146 | 1.08% | 1.3443 | 1.3666 | 0.38% | ||
| MXN Mexican Peso | 18.3936 | 0.0328 | 0.18% | 18.2994 | 18.5055 | -5.62% | ||
| COP Colombian Peso | 4,841.58 | -58.33 | -1.19% | 4,822.22 | 4,979.00 | -0.15% | ||
| BRL Brazilian Real | 5.2105 | 0.0425 | 0.82% | 5.1107 | 5.2142 | -1.41% | ||
| GBP British Pound Sterling | 0.8372 | 0.0065 | 0.78% | 0.8232 | 0.8383 | 1.28% | ||
| EUR Euro | 0.9483 | 0.0133 | 1.42% | 0.9328 | 0.9492 | 1.49% | ||
| CHF Swiss Franc | 0.9408 | 0.0163 | 1.76% | 0.9141 | 0.9415 | 1.70% | ||
| CZK Czech Koruna | 22.4273 | 0.2647 | 1.19% | 22.1327 | 22.4553 | -0.62% | ||
| NOK Norwegian Krone | 10.3903 | 0.1074 | 1.04% | 10.2182 | 10.4176 | 5.93% | ||
| SEK Swedish Krona | 10.5086 | 0.0535 | 0.51% | 10.2890 | 10.5176 | 0.68% | ||
| RUB Russian Ruble | 76.02 | 2.37 | 3.22% | 73.00 | 76.58 | 3.08% | ||
| SAR Saudi Riyal | 3.7496 | 0.0002 | 0.01% | 3.7485 | 3.7547 | -0.23% | ||
| AED UAE Dirham | 3.6731 | 0.0001 | 0.00% | 3.6727 | 3.6732 | 0.01% | ||
| INR Indian Rupee | 82.93 | 0.07 | 0.08% | 82.56 | 83.03 | 0.22% | ||
| THB Thai Baht | 34.93 | 0.47 | 1.36% | 34.30 | 35.01 | 0.90% | ||
| SGD Singapore Dollar | 1.3499 | 0.0132 | 0.99% | 1.3348 | 1.3513 | 0.67% | ||
| MYR Malaysian Ringgit | 4.4355 | 0.0035 | 0.08% | 4.4199 | 4.4451 | 0.69% | ||
| CNH Chinese Yuan | 6.9701 | 0.0989 | 1.44% | 6.8546 | 6.9828 | 0.70% | ||
| HKD Hong Kong Dollar | 7.8487 | 0.0036 | 0.05% | 7.8230 | 7.8500 | 0.54% | ||
| KRW South Korean Won | 1,314.81 | 18.89 | 1.46% | 1,293.05 | 1,318.16 | 4.19% | ||
| JPY Japanese Yen | 136.46 | 2.36 | 1.76% | 133.93 | 136.52 | 4.07% | ||
| AUD Australian Dollar | 1.4870 | 0.0384 | 2.65% | 1.4447 | 1.4886 | 1.49% | ||
| NZD New Zealand Dollar | 1.6200 | 0.0218 | 1.36% | 1.5967 | 1.6258 | 2.87% |
Commodities
Precious Metals continued their decline this week with Silver loosing 4.17%, down 13.44% YTD.
Natural Gas bounced up this week after hitting lows not seen since September 2020.
For Construction Materials Steel prices jumped this week 13.97%, up 37.1% YTD returning to price levels not seen since May 2022.
In Farming commodities Wheat and Corn prices dipped 7.02% and 4.21% respectively.
| Commodity | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1,817.10 | -33.10 | -1.79% | 1,815.50 | 1,855.00 | -0.50% | ||
| Silver | 20.81 | -0.91 | -4.17% | 20.73 | 22.00 | -13.44% | ||
| Platinum | 907.90 | -13.50 | -1.47% | 906.30 | 963.90 | -16.16% | ||
| Palladium | 1,377.30 | -115.20 | -7.72% | 1,354.00 | 1,535.00 | -23.40% | ||
| Crude Oil | 76.32 | -0.02 | -0.03% | 73.80 | 77.40 | -4.91% | ||
| Natural Gas | 2.4510 | 0.1760 | 7.74% | 1.9670 | 2.5770 | -40.28% | ||
| Lumber | 387.10 | 5.00 | 1.31% | 370.40 | 388.90 | 3.59% | ||
| Steel (HRC) | 1,020.00 | 125.00 | 13.97% | 893.00 | 1,031.00 | 37.10% | ||
| Copper | 3.9520 | -0.1565 | -3.81% | 3.9465 | 4.2370 | 3.71% | ||
| Corn | 6.4925 | -0.2850 | -4.21% | 6.4900 | 6.8300 | -4.31% | ||
| Wheat | 7.2175 | -0.5450 | -7.02% | 7.1700 | 7.8450 | -8.87% | ||
| Soybeans | 15.1925 | -0.0800 | -0.52% | 15.1700 | 15.4975 | -0.31% | ||
| Coffee | 1.8770 | 0.0195 | 1.05% | 1.8330 | 1.9415 | 12.19% | ||
| Cattle | 1.6538 | 0.0072 | 0.44% | 1.6433 | 1.6640 | 4.73% | ||
| Lean Hogs | 0.8603 | 0.0075 | 0.88% | 0.8538 | 0.8988 | -1.91% |
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptos declined this week with the total market cap falling 4.91% or 54.97B. Litecoin fell nearly 9% this week knocking it out of the top 10 list, overtaken by Shiba Inu (SHIB) which was down only 4.78%. MATIC posted the largest decline falling 16.99% coming off highs.
| Rank* | Crypto | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | % of Market** | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTC | 23,198.13 | -1,367.47 | -5.57% | 42.08% | 23,007.07 | 25,126.85 | 40.19% | ||
| 2 | ETH | 1,608.37 | -86.41 | -5.10% | 18.50% | 1,583.15 | 1,718.95 | 34.39% | ||
| 3 | BNB | 302.05 | -11.33 | -3.62% | 4.48% | 300.06 | 319.30 | 22.61% | ||
| 4 | XRP | 0.3785 | -0.0168 | -4.25% | 1.81% | 0.3741 | 0.4073 | 11.36% | ||
| 5 | ADA | 0.3658 | -0.0381 | -9.43% | 1.19% | 0.3598 | 0.4159 | 48.40% | ||
| 6 | MATIC | 1.2700 | -0.2600 | -16.99% | 1.04% | 1.2500 | 1.5600 | 67.44% | ||
| 7 | DOGE | 0.0809 | -0.0069 | -7.83% | 1.01% | 0.0799 | 0.0898 | 15.09% | ||
| 8 | SOL | 23.05 | -0.12 | -0.52% | 0.82% | 22.64 | 26.93 | 131.43% | ||
| 9 | DOT | 6.6100 | -0.6700 | -9.20% | 0.72% | 6.5100 | 7.8300 | 53.36% | ||
| 10 | SHIB | 0.00001255 | -0.00000063 | -4.78% | 0.65% | 0.00001238 | 0.00001393 | 55.19% |
** Represents the % of the total crypto market cap
Other Fascinating Stats
The US National Debt increased .42 billion (Wednesday Feb 15th to Wednesday Feb 22nd), to a total debt of $31,454,917,205,702.37 according to the Treasury Department. The National Debt has surpassed congresses approved debt limit of 31.381 trillion for over 5 weeks now. See the Debt to the Penny.
The number of solar Sunspots (magnetic storms on the surface of the sun) increased this week from 101 to 108. See more about Sunspots and space weather.
There are 5,250 discovered and confirmed Exoplanets across 3,921 confirmed Planetary Systems in our Galaxy. 9 Exoplanets have been confirmed this year so far and there are 9,226 Exoplanet Candidates being evaluated for confirmation, an increase of 18 candidates added since last week . Learn more about Exoplanets from NASA’s Exoplanet Catalog.
6,846 more Bitcoin have been mined during the week, the total supply is now 19,300,998 out of the maximum supply of 21,000,000. The max supply is 91.91% mined.
The Federal Funds Effective Rate has remained the same this week at 4.58% with the target rate remaining between 4.50% and 4.75% since February 1st 2023. See more about the Federal Funds Rate.
30 year average mortgage rates in the US have increased this week from 6.32% last week to 6.50% this week. Learn more about 30 year mortgage rates.
Average US regular gas prices have decreased this week 0.32% from 3.39 a gallon last week to 3.38 a gallon this week. See more about US Regular Gas Prices.