MARKET RECAP

• US stocks rally by 2.67%, international stocks +2.50%, bonds -0.05%.
• The first estimate for GDP for Q1 2024 came in at 1.6%, below the expectations of 2.4% and down from 3.4% in Q4.
• Google had a big week, up 11.59%,
• Core PCE was 2.8% year over year and up 0.3% for the month.
• The 10-year treasury closed the week yielding 4.67%, just off its 5-month high, hit earlier in the week, of 4.696%.
• The US has been outperforming the rest of the world economically, but we have been running deficits at twice the average in Europe. So much of the growth is due to this fiscal stimulus and out-of-control deficits that neither party has the guts to deal with. The US accounts for 26.3% of world GDP, the highest in 20 years.
• However, other factors that are probably helping are immigration, although mostly illegal, which still positively seeps into the economy, the growth in AI, and higher labor productivity. Labor productivity increased by 3.3% in Q4 of 2023.

US STOCK MARKET – 5 YEAR WEEKLY CHART OF VTI

SCOREBOARD