Weekly Economic Update for the Week of November 23, 2009

C.W. Copeland & Associates presents

Weekly Economic Update for the Week of November 23, 2009

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Quote of the week."The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life."- Mark Twain

Consumer prices rise 0.3%.October Labor Department data shows CPI up 0.3% and core CPI up 0.2%. Overall consumer prices are down 0.2% across the past 12 months of data, but core CPI (minus food and energy prices) has gone up 1.7% in that stretch.¹

Producer prices follow suit. PPI rose 0.3% in October, while core PPI (factoring out food and fuel) dropped 0.6%. Core PPI only rose 0.7% in the last 12 months, the smallest gain since March 2003-2004.²

Leading indicators keep climbing.The 0.3% October gain in the Conference Board index marks the seventh straight monthly advance. Six of ten indicators were positive, including jobless claims, interest rate spread and consumer goods orders.³

Retail sales & inventories fall.In September, inventories shrank by 0.4% ... but sales slipped by 0.3% as well. Commerce Department estimates did show auto dealers replenishing inventories.⁴

So do housing starts & permits. Construction starts dropped 10.6% last month, and permits 4.0% (maybe attributable to the presumed-expiring tax credit for buyers). The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that 14.41% of home loans were 30 days past due or in foreclosure at the end of 3Q 2009.^5,6

DJIA rides 3-week winning streak.Last week, it advanced 0.46%, closing Friday at 10,318.16. The NASDAQ lost a little ground on the week (-1.01% to 2,146.04), as did the S&P 500 (-0.19% to 1,091.38). Oil futures ended the week at $76.72 a barrel, and gold futures settled at $1,146.40 per ounce Friday.⁷

% Change	Y-T-D	1-Yr Chg	5-Yr Avg	10-Yr Avg
DJIA	+17.57	+36.62	-0.27	-0.62
NASDAQ	+36.08	+63.06	+0.73	-3.63
S&P 500	+20.83	+45.05	-1.35	-2.33
Real Yield	11/20	1 Yr Ago	5 Yrs Ago	10 Yrs Ago
10YrTIPS	1.21%	3.06%	1.67%	4.14%

(Source: CNNMoney.com, ustreas.gov, bls.gov, 11/20/09)^8,9,10

Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends.

Riddle of the week.A mall parking lot has 1,000 parking spaces, and 40% of them are for compact cars. This morning, there are 200 compact cars and some standard-size cars in the lot, which is 75% full. How many standard-size cars are in the lot?

Contact my office or see next week's Update for the answer.

Last week's riddle: Only one bachelor has served as President of the United States. Additionally, only one President has entered office having been legally divorced. Who were these two Presidents?

Last week's riddle answer:James Buchanan was a bachelor, and Ronald Reagan had been divorced.

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Regards,

C.W. Copeland
"Your Personal CFO"
404.567.3275 (cell)
www.PhDinMoney.com