Morning Market Report 8/13/2013

The KUIK Morning Market Report for Tuesday, August 13:
Markets are down slightly.
Index Direction Change Units Last Time Change
Dow Down                    (18) points           15,402 6:55 AM
S&P500 Down -0.04% percent             1,689            (0.75)
Nasdaq Composite Down -0.04% percent             3,669            (1.66)
30 Year Treasury Up                       9 Basis Points               3.75 Annual Yield
Prices for U.S. imports rose 0.2% in July, after decreasing in each of the previous 4 months, according to the Labor Department. The July upturn was driven by rising fuel prices which more than offset lower nonfuel prices. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 0.8% increase. 
The Commerce Department reports sales at U.S. retailers increased 0.2% in July, the fourth straight monthly gain. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected total sales to rise 0.3%. Sales rose an upwardly revised 0.6% in June, compared with the prior estimate of a 0.4% gain. 
Small-business optimism edged up in July, helped by slight gains in the percentage of those planning to increase employment, those saying now’s a good time to expand and those expecting real sales to be higher. The National Federation of Independent Business said its small-business optimism index rose 0.6 points to 94.1 — still half a point below the Dec. 2007 reading, when the U.S. entered recession. The report is based on the responses of 1,615 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-import-prices-rise-02-in-july-2013-08-13
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-retail-sales-post-02-gain-in-july-2013-08-13
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nfib-small-business-optimism-edges-up-in-july-2013-08-13
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