The Baker Group

In order to avoid the use of any terminology that could trigger unwanted scrutiny from the nation's tax enforcement authorities, [Friday's] Week-in-Review will be regrettably bland. Also regrettably bland was Monday's announcement of a mere .1% rise in April Retail Sales. Blander still was the .1% decline that measure experienced if one strips out auto sales. Despite that, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Optimism Index improved from 89.5 to 92.1.

Compared with many of the recent headline-grabbing news stories, [last] week's spate of economic statistics seem like cause for elation. No murder, no mayhem, just a slow-leak in Ten Year prices to [Friday] morning's yield of 1.90%. A monster 10.5% year-over-year jump in home prices nationwide is at least partly responsible for the slow motion sell-off. According to CoreLogic's Home Price Index Report, the largest gains happened in the places that needed it the most; Nevada, California, and Arizona. Yipee-Ki-Yay!

Yes, it's that time again. The month's first Friday brings a fresh, new round of employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and, this time, the surprise is to the upside. If one sets the bar low enough, disappointment can be avoided. With the markets expecting an unchanged Unemployment Rate and a 140k rise in Non-Farm Payrolls, imagine the warm, fuzzy feelings generated by the reported 165k rise in NFP along with a .1% decline in the Unemployment Rate to 7.5%. And for those still disconcerted by last month's meager 88k jobs gain...

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Labor market conditions have shown some improvement in recent months, on balance, but the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending and business fixed investment advanced, and the housing sector has strengthened further, but fiscal policy is restraining economic growth.

So
what\'s with all the hubbub over these "equestration cuts?" Everyone
likes horses, don\'t they? Well, whether that\'s true or not, [Friday marked] the
official kick-off date for the reductions in federal spending growth that were
passed into law 19 months ago. Some are shocked that this is happening. Others

If
you're a Labrador Retriever, you were probably disappointed to learn [last]
week that you and your kin are now "0-137" when it comes to winning
the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. If you're the U.S. Treasury, you were
probably disappointed to learn [last] week that not as many people wanted to
buy your bonds. In three separate auctions, the Treasury sold $72B of