Weekly Highlights: November 13, 2017

U.S. equities finished negative for the week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed 117 points lower, or fell 0.50%, to 23,422. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) index lost 6 points, or fell 0.21%, to 2,582. The Nasdaq closed last week 0.20% lower at 6,751. All major indexes were down on the week.
S&P 500 Earnings Update: According to FactSet, 91% of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported actual results for the third quarter of 2017 with 74% reporting earnings above analyst expectations. The blended earnings growth rate for companies that have reported so far is 6.1%, compared to the same period last year, above analyst forecasts of 3.1% for the quarter. The low earnings forecast for the quarter was driven by expectations for hurricane-related insurance payouts dragging down the financial sector and low commodity prices weighing down the materials sector.The forward 12-month Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio for the S&P is now 18.0. This P/E ratio is above both the 5-year average of 15.7 and the 10-year average of 14.1.

Key reports/items for the upcoming week include, China’s economic data (Oct), U.S. Producer Price Index (Oct), Euro-zone Industrial Production data (Tue), U.S. Consumer Price Index (Oct), U.S. Industrial Production (Oct), and Housing Starts (Oct).
Third quarter earnings season continues to wind down with results expected from Home Depot, TJX Companies, L Brands, Target, Cisco, Walmart, and Gap among others.