On a year-over-year basis, incomes in the United States grew by 4.1 percent. That's great news, and a sign of a good economy. However, consumer spending rose by 4.2 percent.
 | | Good morning. On a year-over-year basis, incomes in the United States grew by 4.1 percent. That's great news, and a sign of a good economy. However, consumer spending rose by 4.2 percent. While rising consumer spending is also good for economic growth, if the math is right, it appears that consumers are—just slightly—living beyond their means by 0.1 percent on average.
While the trend isn't extreme, it's a good one to watch. Given how consumer spending dominates the economy, any pullback there could be a sign of slower growth. And it's yet another inconclusive piece of economic data that suggests the economy is both growing, but has a potential to drastically slow at any time. | | |
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| | |  | DOW 26,599.96 | +0.20% | | | | S&P 2,941.76 | +0.58% | | | | NASDAQ 8,006.24 | +0.48% | | | | | *As of market close | | | • | Stocks rallied ahead of the G20 meeting on Friday, rallying into the close. This was the best performing June for the S&P 500 since 1955. | | | | • | Bitcoin surged higher after its big drop Thursday, and crude oil had a modest pullback. | | | |
| | | Chicago PMI Drops, Shows Economy Contracting | | 
| | Slowdown blamed on tariff uncertainty. | | The Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index decreased by 4.5 points to 49.7 in June. That's in contrast to a read of 54.2 in May. The index is structured to show growth over 50, and a decline under 50. This marks the first sub-50 reading since January 2017.
Businesses surveyed also showed a 13 percent drop in confidence in the economy going forward, with the average dropping to 52.2, just a hair above the 50 level that also indicates growth.
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| | Banks Surge on Fed Approval of Capital Plans | |  | | CrBig banks authorized to increase dividends and buybacks. | | The Federal Reserve approved capital plans for major banks on Thursday. Since the financial crisis, the 18 largest banks doing business in the United States have to periodically send these plans on to the Fed.
As part of these plans, all banks involved now have approval to increase dividends and share buybacks. For example, Bank of America (BAC) approved a 20 percent increase in its quarterly dividend and approved a buyback of up to $30.9 billion in shares.
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| | | | Insider Activity: Altus Midstream Company (ALTM) |  | | Company CEO makes third buy in the past five weeks. | | Insiders continue to be buyers in the energy sector, even after oil prices have started moving higher. The latest example? Natural gas pipeline company Altus Midstream Company (ALTM). On Thursday, CEO Clay Bretches picked up 15,000 shares of the company, paying nearly $55,000.
It also increased his total stake by over 37 percent, a huge additional buy in. This follows up on buys of 20,000 shares on June 14th, and 20,000 shares back on May 21st.
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| | Unusual Options Activity: AbbVie (ABBV) | |  | | Big trade bets shares will rally in July. | | Shares of AbbVie (ABBV) dropped nearly 15 percent on news that it was planning to acquire Botox maker Allergan. One trader is betting that the move was overdone.
On Friday, over 3,200 contracts traded on the August 2, 2019 $80 call option. With 35 days left to expire and AbbVie prices just under $72, the option is a bet on an 11 percent rally in shares in the month of July.
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| | | | TOP | | | WDC | 6.734% | | | | BHF | 4.739% | | | | STZ | 4.638% | | | | CAG | 4.286% | | | | WAB | 3.895% | | | | BOTTOM | | | DOW | 3.143% | | | | BIIB | 2.461% | | | | RTN | 2.348% | | | | CBOE | 2.291% | | | | ROL | 2.075% | | | | |
| | Top Rated Technology Stocks |  | | | |
| | |  | | "In coming months, our survey will provide further evidence as to whether the diminished business confidence is temporary amid tariffs woes or more structural calling for some counter measures | - Shaily Mittal, Senior Economist at MNI, on the June PMI numbers showing a contraction.  | |
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