361 Capital portfolio manager, Blaine Rollins, CFA, previously manager of the Janus Fund, writes a weekly update looking back on major moves, macro-trends and economic data points. The 361 Capital Weekly Research Briefing summarizes the latest market news along with some interesting facts and a touch of humor. 361 Capital is a provider of alternative investment mutual funds, separate accounts, and limited partnerships to institutions, financial intermediaries, and high-net-worth investors.

361 Capital Weekly Research Briefing
December 2, 2013
Timely perspectives from the 361 Capital research & portfolio management team
Written by Blaine Rollins, CFA





It was another unhappy week for the bears as the slow markets again posted new record highs?
For the most part, equity markets in the U.S. and Europe continued to glide higher as the U.S. celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday which also kicks off the peak shopping season. Early indications are that Thursday and Black Friday retail sales got off to a good start ? online sales on Thanksgiving Day were up 20% overall, and Walmart announced it had processed over 10M transactions at its stores on Thursday night. Despite some concerns being raised about equity markets starting to get ?bubbly,? stocks continued to march higher, with the Nasdaq breaking above 4,000 this week for the first time since the internet bubble popped. For the week, the DJIA gained 0.1%, the S&P500 rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq added 1.7%. November saw the S&P rise 2.8% and the Nasdaq up 3.6%.
(TradeTheNews)