Weekly Economic Update

WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE October 30, 2017 THIRD QUARTER SAW SOLID ECONOMIC GROWTH Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis issued its first estimate of Q3 GDP: 3.0%. Its report showed increases in personal spending and business stockpiling offsetting a dip in home building. The economy grew 3% or more for a second straight quarter for the first time since 2014. Growth has averaged 2.2% per quarter since the end of the recession in 2009.

NEW HOME SALES LEAP UP Unexpectedly, new home buying increased by 18.9% in September; the Census Bureau said that the sales pace reached a ten-year peak. The surge put the year-over-year gain for new home purchases at 17.0%.

NASDAQ CLIMBS 144 POINTS IN A DAY

Impressive earnings news sent the tech benchmark up 2.20% Friday to a close of 6,701.26; it gained 1.09% for the week. The S&P 500 added 0.23% last week, settling Friday at 2,581.07; the Dow Industrials rose 0.45% to 23,434.19 in the same span. THIS WEEK: Monday, September’s personal spending numbers and PCE price index are reported, along with earnings from Edison International, Loews, Mondelez, and Sempra Energy. The Conference Board issues its latest consumer confidence index on Tuesday, plus earnings from Aetna, Anadarko Petroleum, Archer Daniels Midland, BP, Cummins, Kellogg, MasterCard, Pfizer, and Under Armour. On Wednesday, a Federal Reserve policy statement and the October ADP payrolls report are released; earnings emerge from Allstate, Clorox, Facebook, GoPro, Hanesbrands, Honda, Kraft Heinz, Marathon Oil, MetLife, Prudential Financial, Qualcomm, Shake Shack, and Tesla. Thursday’s earnings parade includes Alibaba, Apple, AutoNation, CBS, Chesapeake Energy, Cigna, Exelon, Hyatt, Motorola Solutions, Pandora Media, ParkerHannifin, Ralph Lauren, Starbucks, Vulcan Materials, and Yum! Brands. The Department of Labor’s October jobs report rolls out Friday as well as earnings from Duke Energy and Revlon.

VALUE AS OF 10/27/17

VALUE AS OF 12/31/16

S&P 500 INDEX DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL NASDAQ AVERAGECOMPOSITE INDEX MSCI EAFE INDEX BARCLAYS AGGREGATE BOND FED FUNDS TARGET INDEX 6-MONTH US TREASURY YIELD 2-YR US TREASURY YIELD 10-YR TREASURY YIELD CRUDE OIL ($/BARREL)

2,581.07 23,434.19 6,701.26 1,990.66 103.49 1.25% 1.28% 1.59% 2.42% $53.90

2,238.83 19,762.60 5,383.12 1,684.00 102.70 0.75% 0.62% 1.20% 2.45% $53.72

GOLD ($/OZ.)

$1,271.80

$1,151.70

BENCHMARKS

ONE WEEK TOTAL RETURN 0.23% 0.45% 1.09% -0.34% -0.10%

YTD TOTAL RETURN 17.16% 20.87% 24.49% 21.05% 2.91%

1-YEAR TOTAL RETURN 23.40% 32.05% 28.35% 22.50% 0.68%

WEEKLY TIP One way to save money on auto insurance premiums: raise your deductible. In some cases, that could lower your yearly premium by 10% or more. Of course, you must be able to handle the larger deductible if damage occurs. DID YOU KNOW? The average person spends 6 months of their lifetime waiting on a red light to turn green.

W. Kelly Montgomery, AIF®, APMA®, Vice President / Senior Portfolio Manager

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This material was prepared by the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Company, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.