PERFORMANCE

US markets were pretty much flat for the week. The more Trump speaks, the more his post-election market friendly messages get muddled, slowing market momentum. International markets outperformed the US for second straight week. Interest rates were down just slightly, helping bonds rise. The USD fell by 1.02% and oil dropped by 3%.

GDP

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model estimate for Q4 growth dropped by 0.1% to 2.8%. The forecast for Q4 personal consumptions expenditures fell from 2.6% to 2.5%. The NY Fed’s NowCast forecast stayed the same for Q4, at 1.9%. But the 2017 Q1 forecast rose by 20 basis points to 2.1% on a good retail sales report.

EARNINGS

Q4 earnings should be up year over year. At the end of the year, Q4 earnings were projected to increase by 3.0%. But normally, actual earnings come in higher than the quarter end projection. That would make it two straight quarters of improving earnings.