AMERICAN EXECUTIVE TAX AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
DECEMBER NEWSLETTER
Volume 1 Issue 6
American
Executive Tax
and Financial
Services
December
Newsletter
2013
Retail Sales
impacts on weekend turnout. For
LSA Weekly
many retailers, almost half of
Retail sales rose +0.4% for October,
annual sales are brought in during
which exceeded expectations of a
the holiday season, which explains
+0.1% increase. Removing the
the intense scrutiny.
usually volatile automobile,
Thanksgiving dinner, 5:00 AM
Friday morning, or at a more
reasonable hour. It’s also a good
assumption that online activity will
continue to take market share from
traditional brick-and-mortar
retailing. This had been a major
gasoline and building materials
shift with booksellers and
components pushed the gain up to
electronics stores, but has moved to
+0.5%, which also outperformed
other items as well.
the consensus forecast of +0.3%.
The monthly results were led by a
On the positive side, household
+1.3% increase in auto/auto parts
deleveraging has continued this
sales.
year, and while domestic credit card
As we look at the upcoming
debt had fallen to the lowest levels
Thanksgiving weekend and
since before the crisis, it appears to
important ‘Black Friday’ first
Overall, though, general levels of
have bottomed and began to
holiday shopping day, there is the
employment, wealth and consumer
increase again in 2013—which
usual worry about shopper
confidence play among the biggest
implies more spending could be
behavior, to the point where
roles in how retail sales turn out—
happening. But, it may be too early
likely this sentiment will matter
to expect any Christmas miracles
temperature and precipitation
forecasts are reviewed for possible
quite a bit more relative to whether
Old Navy opens during
just yet.
AMERICAN EXECUTIVE TAX AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
DECEMBER NEWSLETTER | Issue 5
Business Inventories
LSA Weekly
Business inventories rose +0.6% for
September, which surpassed the
forecasted +0.3%.
which subtracted a few basis points from
the final figure.
Apparel prices also fell, but this isn’t
unusual month-to-month and could be
holiday-related. Year-over-year, the
headline and core inflation measures
gained +1.0% and +1.7%, respectively,
which, of course, are well under the
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Jobs
LSA Weekly
Initial jobless claims for the Nov. 16
ending week fell to 323k, from a revised
339k the prior week, and better than
the 335k estimate. Continuing claims
for the Nov. 9 week came in close to
unchanged at 2,876k, and a bit higher
than the 2,870k expected.
Fed’s stated target of 2%-plus.
Housing
LSA Weekly
This includes the full total for
manufacturing, wholesale and retail
inventory amounts (the latter provided
the biggest boost). As this is a
September number, it may play into a
revised GDP figure for the third
Existing home sales came in at 5.12
million units for October, which fell short
of the 5.14 million expected—a monthly
decline of -3.2% versus -2.9% as implied
from the expected number and
represented the lowest level since June.
quarter.
The September Job Openings and Labor
Consumer Price Index
Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed a larger
LSA Weekly
number of job openings than expected, at
The October release of the Consumer
3,913k vs. a forecasted number of 3,850k,
Price Index showed a drop of -0.1%,
which is a new post-recession high point.
versus expectations of no change.
Additionally, the hiring rate ticked up by a
It wasn’t a surprise considering the
stacked-up trend of pending sales
weakness over the last several months.
Sales of single-family units fell just over -
Ex-energy and food core CPI gained
+0.12%, which was just a few hundredths
over the forecasted increase of +0.1%.
The headline number was largely affected
by an almost-2% drop in energy prices,
while the core figure was affected by a 3% drop in away-from-home lodging,
4%, which was partially offset by a +3.3%
gain in condos/co-ops. Year-over-year,
the series is still up +6%. Months supply
remains at about 5 months.
tenth to 3.4%—notably in
professional/business services as well as
leisure/hospitality—although it’s still low
on a relative level compared to past
cycles. The layoff/discharge rate also rose
a tick, but the total separation rate and
quit rate were unchanged. The level of
job openings remains high relative to the
unemployment rate, which is another
item likely weighing on the FOMC.
AMERICAN EXECUTIVE TAX AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
DECEMBER NEWSLETTER | Issue 5
Nifty Holiday Idea:
5. Cover a tray with baking paper.
Make these awesome and tasty little
6. Spray your hands with canola spray
and shape the Cheerios mixture into
cones and place on the tray.
candied Christmas trees that
everyone will love.
7. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to
firm up.
8. Remove and decorate with red and
green M&M's and place a gumball on
top. The trees will still be sticky enough
for the decorations to adhere but you
may need to use a little icing to stick the
gumball on.
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November brought on hunting season
and 4-wheeler fun! If you all saw me on
the weekends, you wouldn't recognize
me, speeding through the trails of the
forest! Our entire family rides, and we
have much fun in the woods. We are
gearing up (haha) for a lot more riding
during these next few cooler months.
I would like to wish all of you a very
Merry Christmas, may you enjoy your
friends, family and have as much fun as
possible. We are planning many things
for 2014, and expect American
Executive to experience much growth to
better serve our clients! Happy New
Year! I've already started my list of
resolutions.....;-)
Ingredients:
 3 cups marshmallows
 3 tbsp butter
 Green food coloring
 3 cups Cheerios
 Mini M&M's ( just the red
and green ones)
 Gumballs
 Canola spray
1. In a bowl, place the marshmallows
and butter together and melt in the
microwave on high for 40 seconds.
Melisa’s Corner
2. Mix well with a spoon.
3. Add green food coloring until you
have the color you like.
4. Pour Cheerios into the marshmallow
mix and stir well to coat. Leave to cool
until the mixture becomes tacky. You
may need to put it in the fridge if it is a
warm day.
Seasons Greetings to all!
I hope everyone enjoyed our Annual
Client Appreciation Extravaganza, we
pulled off another successful night of
fun and good food! I enjoyed being
with all of my extended family as I do
each year. We are already looking
forward to next year and the planning
has started!-
Securities offered through Investors Capital
Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC. 6 Kimball
Lane, Lynnfield MA, 01940 800.949.1422.
Advisory services offered through Investors
Capital Advisory
The market commentary articles provided were
generated by LSA Portfolio Analytics (‘LSA
Weekly’) and do not necessarily represent the
views of the named representative or named
Broker dealer.
AMERICAN EXECUTIVE TAX AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
DECEMBER NEWSLETTER | Issue 5
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Please consult your financial advisor for further information.
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