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The US markets were up last week as US equities entered their 5^th year of a bull market last month following the March 9^th low in 2009.  At the end of last week the S&P 500 ended at an all-time high and was up approximately 135% from its 12 year low in March 2009.

In economic news, gold fell by $77/ounce on Friday, ending around $1,487/ounce which marks the first time it has dropped below $1,500/ounce in 2 years.  Real GDP grew at a 3% annual rate while the US dollar appreciated 4.7% in the first quarter of 2013.  China’s GDP growth slowed to from 7.9% to 7.7% in the first quarter as production and consumption weakened.  Finally, US initial jobless claims deceased 42,000 to 346,000 last week, leaving the 4 week average at its highest level since February.  This trend for the jobs market unfortunately points to a somewhat flat jobs recovery.  With the labor force participation rate continuing to decline and a basically flat jobs market, some analysts are concerned that the US GDP recovery (driven almost 70% by CONSUMERS) might begin to stall.