Getting Checked… And Your Weekly Market Update

There are times when a Proclamation from the White House elicits very little in the way of interest or excitement. So, the recent proclamation September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is admittedly unexciting, but it generated a lot of interest for JL Davis for an important reason you’ll read about.

Over the years, many of our clients and their families have been profoundly affected by this deadly, but often preventable and controllable disease.

So in addition to the market’s iterations last week, we paused to take a look at the issue.—and the simple idea of prevention. You’ll want to pass this note along to friends and family…

All the best,
Lee and Jeremy


This Week’s Quote:


“He who cures a disease may be the skillfullest, but he that prevents it is the safest physician.”
~ Thomas Fuller

JL Davis Thoughts This Week:

When Lee Davis, Sr. (born 1923) passed away of cancer 12 years ago, it was a sad loss on many levels. Not the least of which was that had routine checks been done for him, his cancer might have been avoided, or treated much earlier with the possibility of a cure. So around here, we are very interested in the idea of cancer prevention, for obvious reasons.

This month is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month throughout the United States, as proclaimed by the White House. That’s wonderful, and it’s true that tremendous strides have been made in the last 20 years in cancer treatment, prevention, and cure rates. But it is still a scourge for many families, and will be for some time to come, sadly. We now know that prostate cancer is eminently preventable and treatable, in most cases.

There have been remarkable advances in America and Europe. For example, recently, Professor Jim Denham and a team of specialists at the Calvary Mater Hospital and University of Newcastle developed a procedure of injecting gold into the prostate in order to achieve a better radiation signature for cancerous tumors—and hopefully a better result. They’ve had results of their study on the matter published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology. Over two years, 282 patients treated for prostate cancer were compared, some using current conventions and others using the “golden” procedure. The results look promising.

For those who like detail, the ‘‘golden’’ test group had cylindrical gold granules about two millimeters long injected into the prostate at three different locations, helping therapists to triangulate the position of the prostate under an MRI (magnetic-resonance imaging) scan and point radiation at the exact spot. Unlike most metals that cannot go through an MRI (the very strong magnets involved would rip them out of the body) gold is non-magnetic yet still shows up in a scan. The study found those men given the injection of gold before radiation had fewer side effects on surrounding tissue and seemed to remarkably reduce other side effects. And it seemed to allow the radiation to be more effective in producing results. Importantly, only a local anesthetic is needed, with patients reporting little pain—much different than the conventional biopsy needle.

While this is only one of many new ways to treat this type of cancer, the best idea is to prevent it in the first place. Men can calculate their risk of getting prostate cancer online at http://www.prostatecancer-riskcalculator.com. Annual exams help immensely as do routine blood tests that include PSA data.

While all of this information won’t help the over 29,000 men who’ll die this year of the disease in the U.S. (or others who like Lee Davis, Sr. who’ve already passed), it can help to make sure you or your family members might not be one of them in the future.

We wish you and yours good health and please—get checked!**

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1745626/prostate-cancer-gold-treatment/?cs=12
http://www.prostatecancer-riskcalculator.com/
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate


Market Week: September 3, 2013

The Markets

As some sort of U.S. military strike in Syria began to seem increasingly likely, investors had something else to worry about in addition to the Federal Reserve. That translated into weakness in equities. Heading into what has historically been a relatively weak month for stocks, the Dow industrials had lost almost 4.5% during August, while the S&P 500 was down just over 3% for the month. The Nasdaq's 1% loss gave it August's best performance. Meanwhile, bonds didn't seem to benefit much from any flight-to-quality sentiment during the week, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield ended the month up 18 basis points

Last Week's Headlines

• The U.S. economy grew more than previously thought in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The 2.5% annualized growth in gross domestic product is substantially higher than either the initial estimate of 1.7% or Q1's 1.1% growth. An 8.6% increase in exports and imports that were lower than previously thought were the biggest factors in the GDP revisions. Business investments were up 9.9% and corporate profits rose 2.6%, while the sequester budget cuts contributed to a 0.9% decline in government spending. Though another revision is due in late September, this is the last GDP report before the Fed's next monetary policy meeting.
• A 52.3% drop in orders for commercial aircraft cut July durable goods orders by 7.3% in July. However, even apart from the volatile aircraft sector, orders were down 0.6% for the month, according to the Commerce Department, though non-transportation orders gained more than 2.5% over the past 12 months. Business spending on capital equipment fell 3.3% after five straight months of increases.
• Both consumer spending and personal incomes were up 0.1% in July, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis; both were lower than in June.
• Home prices continued to rise in June, though at a slower pace than the month before. The cities included in the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index saw an average 2.2% gain. Prices were 12.1% ahead of last June, which put them back at early 2004 levels. Prices in Dallas and Denver hit record highs, while New York saw its greatest monthly gains since 2002. However, 13 of the 20 cities saw weaker returns from May to June, and S&P said higher mortgage rates could be part of the reason.
• BATS Global Markets, which operates electronic securities exchanges in the United States and Europe, and U.S. stock exchange operator Direct Edge Holdings will merge. The combined company will compete with the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market.
• Here we go again: The federal government will hit its borrowing limit in mid-October, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. That raised the specter of renewed debate over raising the debt ceiling to pay the government's existing bills.


Eye on the Week Ahead

A holiday-shortened week will feature the final unemployment report before the Fed's September monetary policy meeting. Data on construction spending, imports/exports, and manufacturing also will suggest the state of the economy.

Key dates and data releases: U.S. manufacturing, construction spending, auto sales (9/3); balance of trade, Fed "beige book" report (9/4); U.S. services sector, business productivity/costs, factory orders (9/5); unemployment/payrolls (9/6).

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.

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.

Prepared by Lee Davis** and Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2013