Weekly Economic Update for the Week of February 15, 2010

C.W. Copeland & Associates presents

Weekly Economic Update for the Week of February 15, 2010

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Quote of the week. “Live out of your imagination, not your history.”– Dr. Stephen Covey

Retail sales increase. Friday, the Census Bureau estimated retail sales up 0.5% for January, with a 4.7% year-over-year gain from January 2009. The half-percent gain topped the +0.3% forecast of economists polled by Briefing.com.^1,2

How are things off the sales floor? According to the Commerce Department, wholesale inventories shrank by 0.8% in December. Factory inventories were reduced by 0.1%, and retail stockpiles stayed flat (so to speak). U.S.companies had 1.26 months supply of goods on hand, the lowest figure since June 2008. You can hear factories humming.³

Consumer sentiment declines a bit. February’s preliminary Reuters/University of Michiganindex of sentiment came in at 73.7. Late last month, the index was at 74.4. On the other hand, it was down at 56.3 one year ago. The gauge of current economic conditions hit 84.1, the highest mark in 23 months.⁴

A quick check on gold, copper & oil. They all advanced last week. Gold gained $37.30 over five days to close Friday at $1,089.50 an ounce (a 3.54% weekly gain). Copper rose 7.88% across its best week since July. Crude oil futures finished at $74.13 per barrel on the NYMEX Friday after a 4.13% weekly gain.⁵

NASDAQ gains 2%. That index outperformed the DJIA and S&P 500, rising 1.98% across a choppy yet winning week for all three major U.S.indices. The NASDAQ closed Friday at 2,183.53. The S&P 500 and DJIA both ascended 0.87% last week to finish respectively at 1,075.51 and 10,099.14 Friday. The U.S.stock markets will be closed February 15 for the Presidents’ Day holiday.⁶

% Change	Y-T-D	1-Yr Chg	5-Yr Avg	10-Yr Avg
DJIA	-3.15	+27.31	-1.29	-0.31
NASDAQ	-3.77	+41.63	+1.03	-5.03
S&P 500	-3.55	+28.77	-2.15	-2.25
Real Yield	2/12	1 Yr Ago	5 Yrs Ago	10 Yrs Ago
10YrTIPS	1.46%	1.61%	1.57%	4.34%

(Source: CNBC.com, CNNMoney.com, ustreas.gov, bls.gov, 2/12/10)^6,7,8,9

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 supermarket sign says you can buy energy bars at $12 a dozen. At that price, how much would it cost you to buy 100 energy bars?

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

Last week’s riddle: A family has a mother, father and four daughters. Each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?

Last week’s riddle answer: Seven people. Each of the daughters have one brother, there is not one brother for each daughter.

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Citations.

1 census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.html [2/12/10]

2 blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2010/02/12/january-retail-sales-beat-sp-futures-down/ [2/12/10]

3 businessweek.com/news/2010-02-12/inventories-at-u-s-companies-unexpectedly-fall-as-sales-rise.html [2/12/10]

4 reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61B2XI20100212 [2/12/10]

5 blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/02/12/data-points-energy-metals-222/? [2/12/10]

6 cnbc.com/id/35371644 [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F12%2F09&mode=add&symb=DJIA [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F05&mode=add&symb=DJIA [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F00&mode=add&symb=DJIA [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F12%2F09&mode=add&symb=COMP [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F05&mode=add&symb=COMP [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F00&mode=add&symb=COMP [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F12%2F09&mode=add&symb=SPX [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F05&mode=add&symb=SPX [2/12/10]

7 money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=2%2F11%2F00&mode=add&symb=SPX [2/12/10]

8 ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/real_yield.shtml [2/12/10]

8 ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/real_yield_historical.shtml [2/12/10]

9 treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/preanre/2000/ofm11200.pdf [1/12/00]

Regards,

C.W. Copeland
"Your Personal CFO"
C.W. Copeland & Associates
Lifestyle Management Advisors
3401 Norman Berry Drive
Suite 253
East Point, GA 30344
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