Gary Hokin of Hokin Investment Advisors/Nikoh Securities Corporation Presents:

Weekly Economic Update for the Week of June 2y 5, 2008

Quote of the week. “The better work men do is always done under stress and at great personal cost.” – William Carlos Williams

Inflation eases, spending increases. A new batch of data from the Commerce Department showed consumer spending and incomes up 0.2% in April. Core inflation only rose 0.1% on the month.¹ Is it recession, or slow growth? Even for economists, it is hard to tell.

Is housing battling back? The Commerce Department announced that the pace of new home sales increased by 3.3% in April, the first jump north in 6 months. (Sales surged by 42% in the Northeast.) On the downside, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller national home price index fell 14.1% in 1Q 2008.²

Final 1Q GDP: 0.9%. While Warren Buffett and a host of economists think that America really is in a recession, the U.S. economy grew faster than first thought in the year’s first quarter. The Federal Reserve revised first quarter GDP up from 0.6%, but that is still far below the 2.5-3% pace many analysts consider healthy.³

What oil didn’t do. Oil prices didn’t go up last week – prices fell 3.7% for the week on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $127.35 per barrel. But oil futures did gain 12% in May.⁴

What did stocks do? Well, the Dow ended a subpar May by gaining 1.4% last week. While the S&P 500 lost 1.8% last week, the NASDAQ gained 3.2% on the week, and 4.6% for the month.⁵

% Change	Y-T-D	1-Year	5-Yr Avg
DJIA	-4.72	-7.87	+8.56
NASDAQ	-4.89	-2.77	+11.61
S&P 500	-4.63	-9.27	+9.07

(Source: USAToday.com, CNNMoney.com, 5/30/08) ^{6, 7}

Indices are unmanaged, do not incur fees or expenses, and cannot be invested into directly. These returns do not include dividends.

Riddle of the week. Angie bet Jon that she could stand on one finger. Jon took the bet, knowing she couldn’t do it … but she did. How did she do it?

Contact my office or see next week’s Update for the answer.

Last week’s riddle: Three playing cards lie face down on a table. A jack is to the left of a queen. To the left of a spade is a diamond. A king is left of a heart. A spade is right of a king. What are the three cards?

Answer: King of diamonds, jack of hearts, queen of spades.

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These views are those of Peter Montoya Inc., and not Gary Hokin and/or Nikoh Securities Corporation, and should not be construed as investment advice.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx^®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions – the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. The market indices discussed are unmanaged. Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices. Please consult Gary Hokin at (847) 559-1002 for further information. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability and differences in accounting standards.

Citations. ¹ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7ie.CYzdpFg&refer=home#                [5/30/08]

² cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/27/business/realestate/printable4128138.shtml                    [5/27/08]

³ kansascity.com/business/story/641701.html  [5/29/08]

⁴ marketwatch.com/news/story/futures-movers-crude-futures-lose/story.aspx?guid=%7BBC507AE8-BE54-497C-8ACF-77E6C83E0174%7D&dist=hplates  [5/30/08]

⁶ marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?column=Market+Snapshot                         [5/30/08]

⁷ usatoday.com/money/default.htm  [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%2F07&mode=add&symb=DJIA      [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%2F03&mode=add&symb=DJIA      [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%9F07&mode=add&symb=NASDAQ                [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%2F03&mode=add&symb=NASDAQ                [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%2F07&mode=add&symb=SPX        [5/30/08]

⁷ money.cnn.com/quote/historical/historical.html?pg=hi&close_date=5%2F30%2F03&mode=add&symb=SPX        [5/30/08]