Weekly Market Highlights - September 21, 2012

Domestic stock prices ended the week lower after last week’s strong gains. Markets digested the news of the Fed’s announcement of QE3 last week, as well as reports showing a continuing slowing of the world’s economy. On the positive side, the eurozone crisis continues to slowly heal, and Apple began selling the iPhone 5 today, which many analysts believe will provide a meaningful boost to GDP. Global markets were mixed on the week. European share prices were generally higher as a result of the European Central Bank’s efforts to work with Spain to begin the ECB’s bond‐buying program. Markets such as Russia, which have material exposure to energy, declined this week as a result of the drop in crude oil prices.

Treasury prices made gains this week, and yields slumped. Yields on the benchmark 10‐year Treasury eased after last week’s surge, as investors assessed what may be next for the bond market. Data shows that the Fed’s 5‐year inflation index jumped to 2.8%, its highest in more than 13 months.

Commodity indexes fell this week. Prices in energy and agriculturals led the major indices lower. Crude oil fell on the prospects of lower demand globally. Gold continued its ascent, which can be attributed to aggressive stimulus measures.

MARKET DASHBOARD
Index	Price	Weekly Chg.	% Chg.	YTD % Chg.
S&P 500	1,460.11	-2.58	-0.2%	16.3%
Dow Industrials	13,579.47	34.96	0.3%	11.5%
Nasdaq Composite	3,179.96	6.24	0.2%	22.5%
Russell 2000	855.51	-6.40	-0.7%	15.8%
Euro Stoxx Index	275.78	-0.17	-0.1%	12.8%
Shanghai Composite	2,026.69	-97.16	-4.6%	-7.9%
10-Year U.S. Treasury	1.76	-10 bps	NM	-1 bps
DJ UBS Commodity Index	147.65	-4.44	-2.9%	4.9%
Gold	$1,773.53	$5.59	0.3%	13.5%
Crude Oil	$93.05	-$6.21	-6.3%	-5.3%
U.S. Dollar Index	79.34	0.48	0.6%	-1.1%
VIX Index	13.80	-0.54	-3.7%	-40.3%
Source: Bloomberg
As of September 21, 2012