LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -

Black Book’s team of analysts are looking to see how much used metal dealerships turned during Labor Day weekend to get a better handle on how wholesale prices might move during the remainder of the year.

Heading into the holiday sales stretch, the Black Book Market Insights report showed wholesale values didn’t change much as dealers finalized their inventories for the arrival of September.

“Markets remained stable with strong bidding at the auctions ahead of Labor Day. The retail market during the weekend will set the direction for the remainder of the year,” Black Book executive vice president of operations Anil Goyal said in the latest report.

Based on volume-weighted data, analysts determined overall car segment values increased by 0.04% last week. In comparison, market values for had decreased by 0.06% on average during the prior four-week stretch.

Among cars, Black Book noticed values of compact cars increased the most, climbing by 0.21% or $17.

Meanwhile on the truck side, analysts assembled their overall volume-weighted data and found that values (including pickups, SUVs, and vans) ticked 0.06% lower last week. That’s not quite as much as the four-week average decrease, which was 0.11%

Going counter to the overall movements, Black Book determined values of full-size vans rose by 0.43% or $67, the most among the trucks.

Turning next to what Black Book observers noticed in the lanes, a mixed bag of anecdotes surfaced. Here is the rundown:

— From Michigan: “Vehicles are fetching extra bids that make for a robust auction. Also, dealers are reporting above average retail traffic.”

— From Illinois: “The auctioneer stated that the market is hard to assess now. Vehicles with lower-condition scores are holding their own while the others are experiencing more no-sales which is unusual.”

— From Washington: “We had a good selection of nice, clean units along with the lower-priced vehicles. Prices seemed to be up slightly on most of the inventory.”