Estate Tax Changes under the 2010 Tax Relief Act

Estate Tax Changes under the 2010 Tax Relief Act

Market Week: April 4, 2011

The Markets An improving employment picture helped propel domestic equities higher once again despite yet another surge in oil prices. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended the week just shy of its recent high of 1343 in February, while the small-cap Russell 2000 is now at its highest level since July 2007. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq continued to lag the other indexes for the year.

Market/Index	2010 Close	Prior Week	As of 4/1	Week Change	YTD Change
DJIA	11577.51	12220.59	12376.72	1.28%	6.90%
Nasdaq	2652.87	2743.06	2789.60	1.70%	5.15%
S&P 500	1257.64	1313.80	1332.41	1.42%	5.95%
Russell 2000	783.65	823.85	846.77	2.78%	8.05%
Global Dow	2087.44	2166.09	2197.24	1.44%	5.26%
Fed. Funds	.25%	.25%	.25%	0 bps	0 bps
10-year Treasuries	3.30%	3.46%	3.46%	0 bps	16 bps

Last Week's Headlines

• Unemployment fell slightly in March, to 8.8%. It's the fourth straight decline from November's 9.8% and the lowest rate in two years. Nonfarm payrolls added 216,000 jobs during the month, mostly in business and professional services, health care, leisure/hospitality, and mining.
• Consumer spending was up once again in February, the Commerce Department said, rising more than twice as much as disposable personal incomes. Spending increased by 0.7% compared to January, while incomes rose 0.3%. The savings rate also fell slightly, from 6.1% of income to 5.8%.
• Construction spending fell 1.4% in February to the lowest level since October 1999, and was down 6.8% from the previous February.
• Manufacturing expansion continued in March, though at a slightly slower rate than the previous month. The Institute for Supply Management said 15 industries reported expansion, while only 2--wood products and primary metals--contracted.
• Home prices fell once again in January, when the S&P/Case-Shiller index of 20 leading metropolitan areas showed an average 1% decline from December. They are now down 3.1% from the previous January.
• Portuguese and Greek sovereign debt got additional downgrades from Standard & Poor's, putting Portugal's rating just above junk status. And Ireland agreed to provide an additional €24 billion in financial support to four major Irish banks so bondholders would not suffer losses.

Eye on the Week Ahead

Scheduled announcements by several foreign central banks, including those of Japan, Great Britain, and the European Union, will be watched for potential interest rate hikes. And unless an agreement can be reached in advance of yet another deadline for a potential government shutdown at week's end, Washington budget battles could be of interest.

Key dates and data releases: U.S. services sector, Federal Open Market Committee minutes (4/5); wholesale trade/inventories (4/8).


Data source: Includes data provided by Brounes & Associates. All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Equities data reflect price change, not total return.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indexes listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.


-see disclaimer below--