Markets close lower for the week, but two seasonally positive industries stand out. Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com. *** Stocks highlighted are for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities. As always, the use of technical and fundamental analysis is encouraged in order to fine tune entry and exit points to average seasonal trends. Stocks Entering Period of Seasonal Strength Today: Norbord Inc (TSE:OSB) Seasonal Chart Cumulus Media, Inc. (NASD:CMLS) Seasonal Chart Universal Forest Products (NASD:UFPI) Seasonal Chart Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (NASD:ASNA) Seasonal Chart Domino’s Pizza Group LTD (NYSE:DPZ) Seasonal Chart 21st Century Fox Inc. (NASD:FOXA) Seasonal Chart Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) Seasonal Chart Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE:EW) Seasonal Chart Arconic, Inc. (NYSE:ARNC) Seasonal Chart The Markets Stocks drifted lower on Friday as the enthusiasm that surrounded Thursday’s tax vote faded. The S&P 500 Index shed just over one quarter of one percent, closing at its 20-day moving average. For the week, the large-cap benchmark was lower by 0.13%, recording a second consecutive down week. Weekly momentum indicators continue to show slight signs of rolling over, an indication of buying exhaustion. Support at the rising 20-week moving average now sits at 2504. Performance was fairly mixed across the sectors and industries of the market, but one industry stood out. Retail stocks surged following better than expected earnings from a number of industry constituents, sending the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) higher by 3.91% for the week. The industry ETF has bounced firmly from the upper limit of previous trend channel resistance, now gapping above its 200-day moving average. The intermediate trend of lower-lows and lower-highs appears to have come to an end, giving lift to the 50-day moving average, which has been trending higher since September. The gap that resulted from Friday’s surge around $41 creates a level of support below as the industry heads into a crucial selling period. Seasonally, stocks in this space tend to peak relative to the market around the end of November, before Black Friday sales are tallied. On the economic front, housing starts rebounded in October, led by strength in the north-east, south, and mid-west. The headline print indicated that starts rose by 13.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million. The consensus estimate called for a rate of 1.19 million. Stripping out the seasonal adjustments, starts actually increased by 10.2%, firmly above the 2.5% average increase for the month of October. The result is half of last year’s increase for October when starts surged by 20.5%, resulting in the best October performance on record. Year-to-date, starts are higher by 29.8%, still well short of the average increase for this time of the year of 43.2%. Three of the four regions showed gains with the west the only segment showing a decline for the month. Starts in the west were lower by 7.7% in the month, pressuring the year-to-date change into negative territory. The below average pace of starts has yet to take a toll on completions, which is higher by 7.7% so far this year and around 9.1% above the seasonal norm. Constraints in attracting qualified workers to build remains a key hurdle for the industry, which is building an inventory of lots on which to build, as gauged by the above average pace in housing units authorized but not started. The report on new home sales will be released closer to the end of November, providing insight as to whether all of the completions are being met with purchasers. Seasonally, housing starts and sales tend to fall off into the winter months as the desire to move or build during this colder period is lessened. Housing Starts Seasonal Chart The upbeat housing result gave another boost to stocks in the industry, which have significantly outperformed the market over the past couple of months. The iShares Home Construction ETF (ITB) closed higher by 0.89%, touching a new multi-year high. The Industry remains in a period of strength through to early February, leading up to the spring selling period. North of the border, consumer inflation is showing signs of returning to normal levels for this time of year. The consumer price index rose by 0.1%, inline with analyst estimates. CPI has historically been unchanged, on average, in the month of October. The positive result puts the year-to-date gain at 1.9%, just a tenth of a percent below the seasonal average change for this time of year. The convergence of the year-to-date change and the seasonal norm reverses the impact attributed to the strength in the Canadian Dollar and weakness in the price of oil between June and August, which took a toll on the inflation gauge. Excluding energy, CPI has returned to a path of growth, running 0.3% above average through the ten month ending in October. Diving through the details, in addition to the gains in the price of oil, above average increases in property taxes, communications, and transportation are having a significant influence on the aggregate result. The communications category jumped by 2.6% in October, the largest October increase in over 20 years. The price spent by consumers on communication has returned to an above average position year-to-date. For a breakdown of the various categories that make up the aggregate result, you can access the seasonal charts via the database at http://charts.equityclock.com/canada-consumer-price-index-cpi. Sentiment on Friday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bullish at 0.80. Sectors and Industries entering their period of seasonal strength: MATERIALS Relative to the S&P 500 Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite