The S&P 500 had its first losing week of the year, but still is positive for January closing at 3972. With the markets closed on Monday, Tuesday was flat, but Wednesday saw conflicting reports and a move of over 1 percent to the downside. Disappointing December retail sales fell 1.1% reigniting recession fears, but the Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 0.5 percent for its largest monthly decline since April 2020, signaling that inflationary pressure is cooling. Wednesday also saw Amazon begin job cuts affecting more than 18,000 people and Microsoft announcing plans to lay off 10,000 workers. On Thursday the markets extended their slide after initial filings for unemployment insurance fell to their lowest level since late June, signaling that the labor market is resilient amid a slowing economy. After Thursdays close Netflix reported strong subscriber growth, which ignited a bullish Friday and an over 1 percent move to the upside, reversing Wednesdays loss. From a technical perspective, it was an over/under battle of the S&P 500s 200 day Moving Average (MA), which has been a resistance level for all of 2022. For the first time this year, the S&P 500 closed above its 200 MA on 13 January. On Wednesday it collapsed below. But it fought back and Fridays bullish move saw it regain that above 200 MA level. Next week 4th quarter GDP is reported on Thursday followed by the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (CPE) Price Index on Friday. For TSP TIPS, the C fund mirrored those 200 MA moves of the S&P 500 and in a case of unusual timing, the S fund also mirrored these movements. The I fund tops the Performance Ranking leaderboard with its price above its 20 MA, which is above its 50 MA, which is above its 200 MA. As such, well stay with our current investment mix.
The S&P 500 had its first losing week of the year, but still is positive for January closing at 3972. With the markets closed on Monday, Tuesday was flat, but Wednesday saw conflicting reports and a move of over 1 percent to the downside. Disappointing December retail sales fell 1.1% reigniting recession fears, but the Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 0.5 percent for its largest monthly decline since April 2020, signaling that inflationary pressure is cooling. Wednesday also saw Amazon begin job cuts affecting more than 18,000 people and Microsoft announcing plans to lay off 10,000 workers. On Thursday the markets extended their slide after initial filings for unemployment insurance fell to their lowest level since late June, signaling that the labor market is resilient amid a slowing economy. After Thursdays close Netflix reported strong subscriber growth, which ignited a bullish Friday and an over 1 percent move to the upside, reversing Wednesdays loss. From a technical perspective, it was an over/under battle of the S&P 500s 200 day Moving Average (MA), which has been a resistance level for all of 2022. For the first time this year, the S&P 500 closed above its 200 MA on 13 January. On Wednesday it collapsed below. But it fought back and Fridays bullish move saw it regain that above 200 MA level. Next week 4th quarter GDP is reported on Thursday followed by the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (CPE) Price Index on Friday. For TSP TIPS, the C fund mirrored those 200 MA moves of the S&P 500 and in a case of unusual timing, the S fund also mirrored these movements. The I fund tops the Performance Ranking leaderboard with its price above its 20 MA, which is above its 50 MA, which is above its 200 MA. As such, well stay with our current investment mix.