Economic Reports
By Chris Puplava, December 21, 2005
Several economic reports came out today, with the final revision of the third quarter GDP being revised downward from 4.3% to 4.1%, mainly reflecting a downward revision in auto spending.
Source: Econoday, www.econoday.com
A third quarter GDP growth rate of 4.1% suggests that the economy is still going strong as supported by the release of corporate profits by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). After-tax profits for the third quarter rose 35.9% relative to third quarter 2004. The Commerce Department said hurricane damage reduced corporate profits by $165.3 billion in the third quarter, reflecting benefits paid by domestic insurance companies and uninsured losses on corporate property.
Source: Econoday
In other news, crude oil inventories were released today with crude oil stocks rising 1.3 million to 322.5 million barrels while stocks of gasoline and distillates fell as refinery production dipped back down. Gasoline stocks were down 0.3 million to 204.1 million with distillates down 2.8 million to 127.7 million. Refinery capacity was down this week at 88.0% of capacity.
Source: Econoday
On the demand side, demand for gasoline is currently at 1.3% above last year, although demand for distillates is up 3.2% over last year, likely reflecting the cold weather in the Midwest and Northeast.
The Dow was up today, rising 28.18 points to close at 10833.73, while the other major indexes were up as well. The NASDAQ was up 9.24 points to close at 2231.66 while the S&P 500 was up 3.21 points to close at 1262.83.
Index Summary
| Index | Price | Price Change |
Today's % Price Change |
Week
To Date % Price Change |
1
Month % Price Change |
| Dow Jones Industrial Avg. | 10,828.36 | 22.81 | 0.2% | -0.4% | 0.6% |
| S&P Dep. Receipts | 125.98 | 0.15 | 0.1% | -0.5% | 0.7% |
| Nasdaq Composite Index | 2,230.19 | 7.77 | 0.3% | -1.0% | 0.1% |
| Nasdaq 100 Trust | 41.10 | 0.15 | 0.4% | -1.2% | -0.8% |
| Dow Jones Transportation Avg. | 4,191.74 | 88.62 | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| Dow Jones Utility Avg. | 408.42 | -4.80 | -1.2% | -2.2% | 3.0% |
| Inter@ctive Internet Index | 177.24 | 0.26 | 0.1% | -1.6% | 0.5% |
Sector Summary
| Description | Last Price |
Price Change |
Today's % Price Change |
Week
To Date % Price Change |
1
Month % Price Change |
| Basic Materials | 1,302,924 | 20,573 |
1.6% |
1.2% |
3.1% |
| Capital Goods | 696,490 | 2,736 | 0.4% | -0.8% | 2.4% |
| Conglomerates | 823,463 | -2,062 |
-0.2% |
-1.0% |
1.1% |
| Consumer Cyclical | 807,826 | 5,757 | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Consumer/Non-Cyclical | 1,336,196 | 4,034 |
0.3% |
-0.5% |
2.0% |
| Energy | 2,626,534 | 3,740 | 0.1% | 0.0% | 1.3% |
| Financial | 4,993,195 | 22,578 |
0.5% |
0.0% |
1.7% |
| Healthcare | 2,340,249 | 4,624 | 0.2% | 0.3% | 1.7% |
| Services | 4,557,466 | 9,039 |
0.2% |
1.5% |
0.1% |
| Technology | 3,159,183 | 11,245 | 0.4% | -0.7% | 0.9% |
| Transportation | 397,355 | 7,381 |
1.9% |
0.5% |
1.7% |
| Utilities | 904,928 | -4,502 | -0.5% | -1.1% | 3.4% |
Have a pleasant weekend,
Chris Puplava
© 2005 Chris Puplava
Contact Information
Christopher M. Puplava
PFS Group
PO Box 503147
San Diego, CA 92150-3147
(888) 486-3939 Toll Free
(858) 487-3939 Tel
(858) 487-3969 Fax
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