Granite Group Advisors

As we begin this week we are planning on digesting an onslaught of economic indicators that will help drive the market for weeks to come.  The ECB’s Mario Draghi has said all the right things and has brought back some confidence to the markets that Europe as well as the Euro will be saved.  These comments helped fuel another rally in equities last week, but it should be short lived as we believe that the problems in Europe will persist for a long time.  As for here in the US we will be getting the July Jobs report on Friday which should show another month of tepid job growth.  Additionally, we are getting consumer confidence as well as other forward looking indicators that don’t look like they will be overwhelmingly positive.  As an example, the June ISM Purchasing Managers index came in at a contraction at 49.7. This should translate into a very volatile week in equities as well as bonds.