Last Week’s Highlights:

U.S. stock indexes took a breather from their recent record-setting highs, as continued U.S.-China trade rhetoric and soft retail sales data weighed on equities. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 129.27 points, or 0.5%, to 27,875.62, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.3% to 3110.29. The tech-heavy NASDAQ slipped 0.2%, closing at 8519.88. Trade discussions cooled down again, as both the U.S. and China dug in on key issues and look to be stuck on fundamental points of their “phase one” deal. Wall Street deal making continued, as Charles Schwab (SCHW) made an offer to buy TD Ameritrade (AMTD) for $28 billion. They are the two largest discount brokers and together would have $5 trillion in assets. HP, Inc (HPQ) continued its effort to buy Xerox (XRX), although XRX isn’t interested unless the current $33 billion bid is raised. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LMMUY) raised its offer for Tiffany (TIF) to $130 a share, or nearly $16 billion.

Looking Ahead:

Third-quarter earnings season is about done, although we’ll see several companies report financials on Monday including Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC). The Chicago Federal Reserve releases its National Activity Index – economists forecast a -0.20 reading for October, compared with a -0.45 print in September. Analog Devices (ADI), Best Buy (BBY), Hormel Foods (HRL) and Burlington Stores (BURL) announce earnings on Tuesday. The Census Bureau releases sales of new single-family homes for October – forecasts call for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 710,000, up from September’s 701,000 report. Deere (DE) hosts a webcast on Wednesday to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. The Federal Reserve issues its beige book summarizing economic conditions in its 12 districts. U.S. markets are closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving. Major U.S. markets will close early on Friday, with stock trading ending at 1pm and bonds at 2pm. The holiday shopping season officially kicks in on Black Friday – the National Retail Federation expects retail sales to total over $729 billion this season, up 4% from last year.

The Tufton Capital Team wishes you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!