Insight on Business

March 2014

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42 | I nsIgh t • M a r c h 2 0 14 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m E quity markets have continued to be choppy in the first two months of 2014 because of lackluster economic data. e U.s. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, which was lower than the consensus expectation of 178,000. e unemployment rate is now 6.6 percent, which is just above the U.s. Federal Reserve's goal of 6.5 percent. e Fed has stated that it would consider raising rates once this goal is reached. Without strong economic growth, rising interest rates could cause deterioration in bonds and real estate, as well as the stock market. Although the Fed is close to its previously stated goal, the new chairman, Janet Yellen, will likely examine other indicators such as labor force participation and the inflation rate before allowing interest rates to spike significantly. With the U.s. debt hovering around 100 percent of gDP, interest rates any higher than current levels would put a strain on our country's budget, and therefore could damper economic growth. cleartREnD offers monthly market analysis and research on individual stocks, mutual funds, or economic sectors, including markets in northeast Wisconsin. For March, we highlight the technology innovations and continuing education sectors of the economy. We also feature the largest employment sectors for green Lake, Waushara and Marquette counties, current trend analysis on select companies headquartered in Wisconsin, as well as featured international economies. is month's cleartREnD U.s. Economic health Index tM shows that 65 percent of U.s. sectors are expanding, which is a favorable read on the overall U.s. economy. however, this number is significantly lower than last month's reading, which showed 89 percent of sectors were expanding. In addition, the sectors that are contracting has increased substantially, up to 24 percent from 8 percent last month. "e markets could be coming to an inflection point," says Mark scheffler of e Appleton group. "With important decisions to be made regarding U.s. monetary policy in the coming months, investors should be prepared to react." Key: = uptrend = downtrend Ticker = trading symbol (individual securities only) Trend Began = date on which current trend was identified Confidence = clearTREND's historic success rate in generating capital gains based on accurate trend identification clearTREND U.S. Economic Health Index: trending i n fo c u s The U.S. Federal Reserve holds the economy's future in its hands Markets at inflection point This index measures more than 130 unique U.S. market sectors to determine how many are expanding, stable, or contracting. More than 50% of expanding sectors are healthy, while less than 50% are not. 65% Expanding: 65% Stable: 11% Contracting: 24% Poor Fair Good Excellent Sector Focus Technology Innovations Description Ticker Trend Began Confidence Corning Inc GLW 10/24/13 80.83% EMC Corp EMC 12/24/13 74.78% International Business Machines Corp IBM 1/16/14 72.68% LinkedIn Corp LNKD 1/28/14 77.78% Oracle Corp ORCL 10/8/13 81.12% Salesforce.com Inc CRM 7/15/13 76.74% SONY Corporation SNE 1/22/14 71.71% Taiwan Semiconductor Corp TSM 2/4/14 72.09% Continuing Education Description Ticker Trend Began Confidence Bridgepoint Education Inc BPI 1/28/14 62.26% Bright Horizons Family Solutions BFAM 2/5/14 73.33% DeVry Education Group Inc DV 9/13/13 74.67% ITT Educational Services Inc ESI 5/2/13 60.16% K12 Incorporated LRN 1/2/14 61.22% New Oriental Education & Technology Group EDU 5/14/13 66.67% Pearson PLC PSO 5/28/13 55.04% TAL Education Group XRS 2/28/13 75.38% Data as of 2/11/2014

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