Technically, Rutgers’s football team will finish undefeated in 2020. Sometimes, you gotta take the little victories life gives you.
This week the S&P 500 closed at 3,372.85, a gain of 0.64%, the NASDAQ finished at 11,019.30, a gain of 0.08%, and the Dow ended at 27,931.02, a gain of 1.81%.
Summary
Not the craziest of weeks but a week that did see the S&P get extremely close to all-time highs. Big tech slowed down its gains and gave other sectors a chance to catch up, including industrials, which have been on a tear this past month. Also, Russia announced a COVID-19 vaccine, which was given the nickname “Sputnik V.”
Worth Mentioning
- First time jobless claims totaled 963,000, the first time it’s been under 1 million since March 14th
- Tesla announced a 5 for 1 stock split
- Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his VP candidate
- The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6% in July
- Retail sales increased by 1.2% for July, the third month in a row they rose
- The Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled fall sports, including football
- Apple closed the week with a market cap of 1.97 trillion, 30 billion away from becoming the first company to hit 2 trillion
Looking Ahead to Next Week
- Major retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot, and Target report earnings
- The S&P 500 will likely test all-time highs again
- Monthly data for housing starts and existing home sales will be reported
Weekly Change in Each Sector:
| Price, 08/07 | Price, 08/14 | Change | |
| XLC — Communications Service | $59.93 | $59.83 | -0.17% |
| XLY — Consumer Discretionary | $140.38 | $143.59 | 2.29% |
| XLP — Consumer Staples | $63.51 | $64.16 | 1.02% |
| XLE — Energy | $37.18 | $38.19 | 2.72% |
| XLF — Financials | $24.84 | $25.18 | 1.37% |
| XLV — Health Care | $106.41 | $106.80 | 0.37% |
| XLI — Industrials | $75.13 | $77.53 | 3.19% |
| XLK — Information Technology | $113.74 | $113.88 | 0.12% |
| XLB — Materials | $61.71 | $62.63 | 1.49% |
| XLRE — Real Estate | $36.50 | $35.86 | -1.75% |
| XLU — Utilities | $61.49 | $60.38 | -1.81% |
Treasury Yield Rates
The 10-Year ended the week at 0.71%, compared to last week’s end of 0.57%
The 2-Year ended the week at 0.14%, compared to last week’s end of 0.13%
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