It's The Economy Stupid: Jimmy Hoffa, Jimmy Buffett, Ben Bernanke, Market Close

-They still have not found Jimmy Hoffa. 

-They still have not found Jimmy Buffett’s lost shaker of salt.

-The Fed leaves rates unchanged. 

-The Fed did not reduce their $85 Billion of monthly purchases of bonds.

-The Fed sorta kinda thinking maybe it might could end QE by end of 2014.

-Ben Bernanke did not leave his job, despite Obama saying he’s stayed longer than he wanted.

 

Ben Bernanke speaks and the market drops.   I don’t think they liked what he said.

 

Stocks and Treasuries slid while the dollar rallied as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may reduce the pace of bond purchases later this year as economic risks subside.   The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 1.38 percent to 1,628.93, a drop of -22.88 points, while 10-year Treasury yields jumped 15 basis points to 2.33 percent, the highest since March 2012. The Dollar Index, a gauge against six major peers, increased 1 percent to 81.41 as the U.S. currency strengthened against 14 of 16 major peers. Gold futures lost 1.3 percent to $1,348.80 an ounce, erasing an earlier 0.7 percent gain. Oil slipped 0.6 percent to $97.86 a barrel in extended trading.  Risks to the economic outlook and the labor market  have diminished, the Federal Open Market Committee said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting, repeating that it’s prepared to reduce or increase the pace of bond purchases depending on the outlook for jobs and inflation. The U.S. unemployment rate will fall to 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent by the end of 2014, Fed officials predicted, possibly reaching the central bank’s stated threshold to raise the benchmark lending rate.

Description	Ticker	Last	CHANGE	% Chg Today	Pct Chg 1Yr
STOCK MARKETS
Dow Jones Industrial Average	INDU Index	15112.190	-206.0400	-1.3451	18.1515
S&P 500 Index	SPX Index	1628.930	-22.8800	-1.3852	20.8380
S&P 400 Mid Cap Index	MID Index	1171.300	-17.0100	-1.4314	25.5701
S&P 600 Small Cap Index	SML Index	466.570	-2.3100	-0.4900	28.0916
NASDAQ 100 Index	NDX Index	2959.502	-36.5870	-1.2212	13.3112
NASDAQ Composite Index	CCMP Index	3443.201	-38.9810	-1.1194	17.9185
Russell 3000 Index	RAY Index	968.330	-13.5300	-1.3780	21.4307
Russell 1000 Index (Large Cap)	RIY Index	902.590	-12.6300	-1.3800	21.0680
Russell 2000 Index (Small Cap)	RTY Index	986.500	-13.4900	-1.3490	25.9082
Wilshire 5000 Total Market	W5000 Index	17191.430	-229.8000	-1.3191	21.5377
TREASURIES	% Yield
3 Month Treasury	0.0507		0.0000	0.0000
6 Month Treasury	0.0811		0.0000	0.0000
2 Year Treasury	0.3064	99.891	-0.0859	-0.0860
5 Year Treasury	1.2681	98.844	-0.8828	-0.8852
10 Year Treasury	2.3490	94.906	-1.2344	-1.2839
30 Year Treasury	3.4065	90.234	-0.9844	-1.0791
ENERGY
Crude Oil, Brent Index	Brent Crude	105.580	-0.4400	-0.4150	10.6452
Crude Oil, Louisiana Lt. Sweet	LA Lt Sweet	106.240	-0.1500	-0.1410	10.6300
Natural Gas, Henry Hub Index	Nat Gas	3.953	0.0480	1.2292	14.8245
PRECIOUS METALS
Spot Gold $/oz	GOLD	1349.770	-17.8800	-1.3074	-16.4947
Spot Silver $/oz	SILVER	21.330	-0.3500	-1.6144	-24.8355
CURRENCIES
Euro	EUR Curncy	0.753	0.0060	0.8036	-4.4024
Japanese Yen	JPY Curncy	96.240	0.9100	0.9546	-18.5074
British Pound	GBP Curncy	0.646	0.0070	1.0950	1.5881
Swiss Franc	CHF Curncy	0.929	0.0084	0.9129	1.6973
Canadian Dollar	CAD Curncy	1.027	0.0057	0.5583	-0.9151
Chinese Renminbi	CNY Curncy	6.127	-0.0016	-0.0261	3.7344
FOREIGN INDICIES
FTSE 100 INDEX	UK	6348.820	-25.3900	-0.3983	13.6496
CAC 40 INDEX	FRANCE	3839.340	-21.2100	-0.5494	23.1379
DAX INDEX	GERMANY	8197.080	-32.4300	-0.3941	28.8169
NIKKEI 225 INDEX	JAPAN	13245.220	237.9400	1.8293	51.3340
HANG SENG INDEX	HONG KONG	20986.890	-238.9900	-1.1259	7.5211

   

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

225-342-0013

jbroussard@treasury.state.la.us