U.S. Equities Open: Tax Reform, Employment And Housing In Focus

Taxes are always a hot topic, no matter who is involved. U.S. President Trump is finding partisan support hard to come by in his pursuit of a comprehensive tax reform package. Yesterday evening, Senate Republicans decided to make it clear that they will not guarantee any support for the President’s tax agenda.

The Pressure To Get Something Done Is Mounting

The ongoing political strife is a bit unfortunate for the U.S. economy. Right now we are seeing consistently robust participation in the equities markets, positive metrics, and low interest rates.

If the U.S. government could get on the same page with regards to a tax cut, we could see conditions for long-term economic growth.

Today’s Metrics

On the heels of the FED’s release yesterday, these items seem like small potatoes:

Event                                                    Previous             Projected            Actual

Continuing Jobless Claims (Sept. 8)    1.936M                  1.975M              1.980M               

Philadelphia Fed Survey (Sept.)           23.8                       NA                      18.9

Housing Price Index (MoM, July)          0.1%                      0.4%                   0.2%

The big take aways here are the continued slowdown in U.S. real estate and the moderate rise in unemployment. Both of these items are largely seasonal, so they are not likely to gain much attention from investors moving forward.

For today’s session, U.S. equities are in a holding pattern. The FED gave us all some food for thought yesterday. It looks like the institutional money is going to take a breath before committing to an intermediate-term view.