Brief
This report covers the 10th week of the year spanning Friday, March 3rd, through Friday, March 10, 2023.
- USDC depegs from the dollar falling as low as 88 cents
- SIVB stock crashes over 60% and trading is halted
- Steel (HCR) becomes the top performing asset of the year up 41.9%
- S&P500 Financials and Real Estate sectors flip negative YTD
- NASA confirms and catalogs 28 new exoplanets
- A powerful CME might hit Mercury with enough force to lift surface debris into space
Economic Reports
Monday Mar 6th
- Factory Orders for January decreased 1.6%, less than the expected -1.8% and much lower than December’s increase of 1.7%
Tuesday Mar 7th
- Wholesale Inventories for January decreased 0.4%, less than December’s increase of 0.1%
- Consumer Credit for January increased 14.8B, less than the expected 22.9B but more than December’s increase of 10.6B
Wednesday Mar 8th
- ADP Employment Change for February increased by 242K, more than the expected 195K and more than January’s 119K
- JOLTS – Job Openings for January was 10.824M, down from December’s 11.234M
Thursday Mar 9th
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week increased by 21,000 to 211,000 new claims, reasonably more than the expected 198,000
- Continuing Jobless Claims increased by 69,000 to 1.718 million
Friday Mar 10th
- Nonfarm Payrolls for February increased by 311,000, significantly higher than the expected 205,000
- Nonfarm Private Payrolls for February increased by 265,000, reasonably higher than the expected 203,000 (46,000 of the total increase in payroll was government jobs)
- Unemployment Rate for February was 3.6%, slightly higher than the expected 3.4% and higher than January’s unemployment rate also of 3.4%
- Average Hourly Earnings for February increased 0.2%, less than the expected increase of 0.3% and less than January’s increase of 0.3%
- Average Workweek for February was 34.5 hours, slightly less than the expected 34.6 hours and less than January’s 34.6 hours
- Treasury Budget for February decreased 262.4B, compared to January’s decrease of 38.8B. The current Federal Debt is higher than the debt ceiling approved by congress so some spending has been forced to be delayed until congress approves an increase in debt ceiling.
Next Week’s Major Reports
- CPI – Tuesday 14th
- PPI – Wednesday 15th
- Retail Sales – Wednesday 15th
- Housing Starts – Thursday16th
- Consumer Sentiment – Friday 17th
See more Economic News at Briefing.com or learn about each economic report on our education page
US Stocks
US stocks were down across the board this week and closed at their lows of the week with the Wilshire 5000 falling 5.12%. All sector indices were down with Financials falling the most loosing 8.5%. The Financials Sector includes Silicone Valley Bank (SVIB) which fell over 60% and trading was halted. This happened after they announced they needed to raise 2.25B through a public share offering stating they will realize a loss of 1.8B on their investment portfolio for Q1 2023. SIVB shares we at 106.04 when trading was halted, however the Friday morning pre-market trading price of SIVB was 39.40 a share. This represents a market cap loss of 13.2B to a current market cap of only 2.3B, below the required minimum market cap to stay in the S&P 500.
Financials and Real Estate flipped to negative YTD performance this week. Industrials and Materials are on the verge of going into the red YTD only being up 0.49% and 0.35% respectively.
| Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJIA | 31,909.64 | -1,481.33 | -4.44% | 31,783.41 | 33,572.22 | -3.73% | ||
| Nasdaq | 11,138.89 | -550.12 | -4.71% | 11,093.86 | 11,827.92 | 6.42% | ||
| S&P 500 | 3,861.59 | -184.05 | -4.55% | 3,846.32 | 4,078.49 | 0.58% | ||
| Wilshire 5000 | 38,379.18 | -2,071.77 | -5.12% | 38,379.18 | 40,399.86 | 0.80% |
| Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Services | 170.71 | -7.31 | -4.11% | 170.71 | 178.83 | 7.12% | ||
| Consumer Discretionary | 1,072.43 | -63.07 | -5.55% | 1,072.43 | 1,127.45 | 6.66% | ||
| Consumer Staples | 741.17 | -14.52 | -1.92% | 741.17 | 758.17 | -4.87% | ||
| Energy | 628.78 | -35.52 | -5.35% | 628.78 | 664.95 | -6.48% | ||
| Financials | 546.28 | -50.77 | -8.50% | 546.28 | 597.36 | -4.12% | ||
| Health Care | 1,443.91 | -59.41 | -3.95% | 1,443.91 | 1,502.39 | -8.93% | ||
| Industrials | 835.48 | -39.04 | -4.46% | 835.48 | 872.77 | 0.49% | ||
| Information Technology | 2,366.99 | -74.84 | -3.06% | 2,366.99 | 2,454.86 | 8.97% | ||
| Materials | 491.26 | -40.64 | -7.64% | 491.26 | 523.14 | 0.35% | ||
| Real Estate | 226.20 | -17.03 | -7.00% | 226.20 | 242.25 | -2.66% | ||
| Utilities | 325.20 | -9.64 | -2.88% | 325.20 | 336.28 | -9.28% |
Global Stocks
Stocks around the world were all down this week except Japan’s Nikkei which posted a small gain of 0.78%
| Index | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK FTSE 100 | 7,748.35 | -198.76 | -2.50% | 7,708.32 | 7,959.77 | 3.98% | ||
| France CAC 40 | 7,220.67 | -127.45 | -1.73% | 7,166.89 | 7,401.15 | 11.54% | ||
| Spain IBEX 35 | 9,285.00 | -179.20 | -1.89% | 9,182.70 | 9,528.30 | 12.83% | ||
| Germany DAX 40 | 15,427.97 | -150.42 | -0.97% | 15,316.38 | 15,706.37 | 10.80% | ||
| India BSE Sensex | 59,135.13 | -673.84 | -1.13% | 58,884.98 | 60,498.48 | -2.80% | ||
| China Shanghai Comp | 3,230.08 | -98.31 | -2.95% | 3,229.50 | 3,342.86 | 4.56% | ||
| HK Hang Seng 50 | 19,319.92 | -1,247.62 | -6.07% | 19,281.97 | 21,005.66 | -2.33% | ||
| Japan Nikkei 225 | 28,143.97 | 216.50 | 0.78% | 28,118.74 | 28,734.79 | 7.85% | ||
| Australia ASX 200 | 7,144.70 | -138.90 | -1.91% | 7,134.50 | 7,370.30 | 1.51% |
Currencies
The US Dollar largely became stronger around the globe this week gaining the most against the Mexican Peso (MXN) with a gain of 3.01% and the Swedish Krona (SEK) with a gain of 2.52%.
| Currency | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAD Canadian Dollar | 1.3830 | 0.0232 | 1.71% | 1.3583 | 1.3865 | 2.04% | ||
| MXN Mexican Peso | 18.4966 | 0.5400 | 3.01% | 17.8974 | 18.5965 | -5.09% | ||
| COP Colombian Peso | 4,718.63 | -70.00 | -1.46% | 4,663.75 | 4,796.42 | -2.68% | ||
| BRL Brazilian Real | 5.2170 | 0.0213 | 0.41% | 5.1001 | 5.2210 | -1.28% | ||
| GBP British Pound Sterling | 0.8312 | 0.0008 | 0.10% | 0.8255 | 0.8473 | 0.56% | ||
| EUR Euro | 0.9397 | -0.0007 | -0.07% | 0.9344 | 0.9502 | 0.57% | ||
| CHF Swiss Franc | 0.9215 | -0.0144 | -1.54% | 0.9175 | 0.9439 | -0.39% | ||
| CZK Czech Koruna | 22.2270 | 0.1421 | 0.64% | 21.9798 | 22.4915 | -1.51% | ||
| NOK Norwegian Krone | 10.6346 | 0.2515 | 2.42% | 10.3664 | 10.7505 | 8.42% | ||
| SEK Swedish Krona | 10.7178 | 0.2631 | 2.52% | 10.4144 | 10.7822 | 2.69% | ||
| RUB Russian Ruble | 76.20 | 0.80 | 1.06% | 74.41 | 76.57 | 3.32% | ||
| SAR Saudi Riyal | 3.7542 | 0.0011 | 0.03% | 3.7490 | 3.7569 | -0.10% | ||
| AED UAE Dirham | 3.6727 | -0.0004 | -0.01% | 3.6725 | 3.6732 | 0.00% | ||
| INR Indian Rupee | 82.02 | 0.30 | 0.37% | 81.65 | 82.31 | -0.88% | ||
| THB Thai Baht | 34.81 | 0.31 | 0.90% | 34.38 | 35.20 | 0.55% | ||
| SGD Singapore Dollar | 1.3501 | 0.0053 | 0.39% | 1.3433 | 1.3577 | 0.69% | ||
| MYR Malaysian Ringgit | 4.5195 | 0.0435 | 0.97% | 4.4640 | 4.5316 | 2.60% | ||
| CNH Chinese Yuan | 6.9426 | 0.0427 | 0.62% | 6.9030 | 6.9971 | 0.30% | ||
| HKD Hong Kong Dollar | 7.8472 | -0.0008 | -0.01% | 7.8456 | 7.8501 | 0.52% | ||
| KRW South Korean Won | 1,320.63 | 24.90 | 1.92% | 1,293.69 | 1,329.32 | 4.65% | ||
| JPY Japanese Yen | 135.00 | -0.85 | -0.63% | 134.14 | 137.92 | 2.96% | ||
| AUD Australian Dollar | 1.5198 | 0.0423 | 2.86% | 1.4769 | 1.5233 | 3.73% | ||
| NZD New Zealand Dollar | 1.6308 | 0.0241 | 1.50% | 1.6062 | 1.6437 | 3.56% |
* Rates are quoted as the amount of local currency to buy 1 US Dollar.
Commodities
- Average US Regular Gas Price – increased 1.41% this week to $3.389 a gallon compared to $3.342 a gallon last week. See more about US Regular Gas Prices.
- EIA Crude Oil Inventories – decreased by 1.69M barrels last week compared to prior week increase of 1.17M
- EIA Natural Gas Inventories – decreased 81 bcf last week compared to prior week decrease of 71 bcf (billion cubic feet)
Natural Gas made a strong downward move this week falling 18.53% to 2.56, still up from lows 2 weeks at 1.97.
For Construction Materials Steel prices continued to increase this week for the 8th straight week up 41.9% YTD. Lumber prices also moved up with an 11.73% gain for the week.
| Commodity | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1,867.20 | 12.60 | 0.68% | 1,813.40 | 1,874.30 | 2.25% | ||
| Silver | 20.51 | -0.73 | -3.45% | 19.95 | 21.40 | -14.70% | ||
| Platinum | 962.20 | -17.20 | -1.76% | 930.90 | 984.10 | -11.15% | ||
| Palladium | 1,362.30 | -86.70 | -5.98% | 1,333.00 | 1,447.00 | -24.23% | ||
| Crude Oil | 76.68 | -3.00 | -3.77% | 74.77 | 80.94 | -4.46% | ||
| Natural Gas | 2.5590 | -0.5820 | -18.53% | 2.5540 | 2.9540 | -37.65% | ||
| Lumber | 414.30 | 43.50 | 11.73% | 403.40 | 420.00 | 10.86% | ||
| Steel (HRC) | 1,056.00 | 6.00 | 0.57% | 1,042.00 | 1,075.00 | 41.94% | ||
| Copper | 4.0305 | -0.0365 | -0.90% | 3.9610 | 4.0950 | 5.77% | ||
| Corn | 6.1725 | -0.2250 | -3.52% | 6.0675 | 6.4025 | -9.03% | ||
| Wheat | 6.7925 | -0.2950 | -4.16% | 6.6100 | 7.1100 | -14.24% | ||
| Soybeans | 15.0700 | -0.1175 | -0.77% | 14.9800 | 15.3850 | -1.12% | ||
| Coffee | 1.7780 | -0.0005 | -0.03% | 1.7375 | 1.8345 | 6.28% | ||
| Cattle | 1.6428 | -0.0115 | -0.70% | 1.6423 | 1.6668 | 4.04% | ||
| Lean Hogs | 0.8745 | 0.0290 | 3.43% | 0.8320 | 0.8750 | -0.29% |
Interest Rates
- Federal Funds Effective Rate – remained the same this week at 4.57% with the target rate between 4.50–4.75% since the February 1st, 2023 increase of 25 basis points. See more about the Federal Funds Rate.
- 30 Year Average US Mortgage Rates – increased this week to 6.73% from 6.50% last week. Learn more about 30 year mortgage rates.
- MBA Mortgage Applications Index – increased by 7.4% this week compared to the prior week decrease of 5.7%
| Maturity | Week Close | Week Change | Low | Week Range | High | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 1 Month | 4.628% | -0.012% | 4.610% | 4.711% | ||
| US 3 Month | 4.913% | 0.062% | 4.825% | 5.033% | ||
| US 1 Year | 4.907% | -0.186% | 4.907% | 5.317% | ||
| US 5 Year | 3.967% | -0.293% | 3.932% | 4.379% | ||
| US 10 Year | 3.705% | -0.255% | 3.682% | 4.018% | ||
| US 30 Year | 3.710% | -0.170% | 3.682% | 3.941% |
Cryptocurrencies
- Total Crypto Market Cap – decreased 8.02% or 82.54B this week to 0.95T compared to the prior weeks decrease of 3.30% or 35.09B to 1.03T
- Bitcoin Supply – 6,304 more Bitcoin have been mined this week, the total supply is now 19,313,715 out of the max supply of 21M. The max supply is 91.97% mined.
Cryptos declined again this week falling for the 3rd week in a row. Litecoin (LTC) fell 20.75% knocking it out of the top 10 this week.
Due to the fall of Silicone Valley Bank (SIVB) Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) lost its peg to the US Dollar as Circle has more than 3.3B of USDC assets deposited with SIVB. USDC fell as low as 88 cents between late Friday and early morning Saturday. This will be an interesting week ahead to see if USDC can re-stabilize at $1, otherwise many crypto firms and other financial institutions will be exposed to potentially major losses.
| Rank* | Crypto | Week Close | Week Change | Change % | % of Market** | Low | Week Range | High | YTD Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTC | 20,187.24 | -2,175.44 | -9.73% | 41.20% | 19,628.25 | 22,613.69 | 22.00% | ||
| 2 | ETH | 1,429.16 | -140.01 | -8.92% | 18.48% | 1,378.53 | 1,584.21 | 19.42% | ||
| 3 | BNB | 277.42 | -12.86 | -4.43% | 4.63% | 265.71 | 293.64 | 12.61% | ||
| 4 | XRP | 0.3706 | -0.0071 | -1.88% | 2.00% | 0.3599 | 0.3991 | 9.03% | ||
| 5 | ADA | 0.3153 | -0.0274 | -8.00% | 1.16% | 0.2985 | 0.3443 | 27.91% | ||
| 6 | MATIC | 1.0600 | -0.1100 | -9.40% | 0.98% | 0.9493 | 1.1800 | 39.75% | ||
| 7 | DOGE | 0.0658 | -0.0110 | -14.26% | 0.92% | 0.0630 | 0.0772 | -6.35% | ||
| 8 | SOL | 18.24 | -3.16 | -14.77% | 0.74% | 16.12 | 21.62 | 83.13% | ||
| 9 | DOT | 5.5500 | -0.4800 | -7.96% | 0.69% | 5.1800 | 6.0500 | 28.77% | ||
| 10 | SHIB | 0.00001029 | -0.00000108 | -9.50% | 0.60% | 0.00000973 | 0.00001164 | 27.24% |
* Rank is based on market cap of non-stablecoins.
** Represents the % of the total crypto market cap
Other Fascinating Stats
The US National Debt decreased 71.34 billion (Wednesday Mar 1st to Wednesday Mar 8th), to a total debt of $31,459,006,159,569.62 according to the Treasury Department. The National Debt has surpassed congresses approved debt limit of 31.381 trillion for over 7 weeks now. See the Debt to the Penny.
The number of solar Sunspots (magnetic storms on the surface of the sun) increased this week to 155 from 103 last week, the sun has had 0 spotless days in 2023. A major coronal mass ejection (CME) left the far side of the sun late on March 9th and is expected to hit Mercury sometime on March 10th, it is powerful enough to potentially overwhelm Mercury’s magnetic field and blast the surface of the planet with enough force to kick up large amounts of debris into its atmosphere. The CME is potentially powerful enough to blast debris completely off the planet into space. See more about Sunspots and space weather.
NASA has confirmed and cataloged 28 new exoplanets this week bringing the total to 5,300 confirmed and catalogued Exoplanets across 3,969 confirmed Planetary Systems (an increase of 26). 59 Exoplanets have been confirmed this year so far and there are 9,245 Exoplanet Candidates being evaluated for confirmation, an increase of 0 candidates added since last week . Learn about all of the Exoplanets from NASA’s Exoplanet Catalog.