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Economics
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Written by Ken Lee
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08.05.2009 |
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A gambit of seemingly positive news ranging from housing reports and economic reports to a better-than-expected earnings season has propelled equities to their highest levels in 2009. Lower rates and the homebuyer tax credit continue to spur housing activity in the short term as evidenced by increases in both new and existing home sales for June. Advance GDP figures showed economic contraction was tamer than expected in the second quarter which suggests that the worst of the recession has passed, although this figure will be revised twice in coming months.
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Economics
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Written by Ken Lee
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07.06.2009 |
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Equities continued to trend lower due to weaker than expected June employment data and a more cautious outlook for the U.S. economy. The broader S&P 500 index finished almost 2% lower on Tuesday which is its lowest close in almost 10 weeks. Although crude prices and stocks have run-up nicely from the March lows, the market has settled down and has taken a much more guarded approach in recent weeks. Attention will now turn to earnings as Alcoa will kick off second quarter earnings season on Wednesday.
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Economics
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Written by Ken Lee
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06.25.2009 |
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After plunging on Monday due to renewed concerns of a global economic slowdown, Wall Street rebounded on Thursday thanks to slightly better economic news and bargain hunters jumping back into the market to capitalize on early-week declines. The broader S&P 500 Index finished up over 2% on Thursday to 920.26 which is practically where it stood at the end of trading last week. Markets sold off on Monday when the World Bank revised its estimates lower for the world economy to 2.9% contraction compared to a previously estimated 1.7% drop. The Fed also concluded a two-day meeting on Wednesday which resulted in the target Fed Funds rate remaining unchanged at the 0 to ¼ point range. The Fed statement also noted that their view on inflation remains “subdued” and the recent rise in crude may have eased concerns of deflation.
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Economics
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Written by Jonathan Smoke
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02.03.2009 |
 The National Association of Realtors released the December Pending Homes Sales index reading today. The index rose 6.3% to 87.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 82.5 in November. The December reading was 2.1% higher than December 2007 when it was 85.9.
Correspondingly NAR reported that the Housing Affordability Index rose 10.9% in December to 158.8, the highest national score on record. The index measures what a median income household can afford where 100 means that the median household can just afford a median priced home with 20% down at today’s average mortgage rates. At this higher level of affordability, median households can afford far more than the median home. | | No comments for this item |
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Economics
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Written by Jonathan Smoke
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01.29.2009 |
 Except for the lagging home price indices that will be released for December next month, we got the final metric today that closed the book on what was a rotten end to a rotten year. The Commerce Department reported that new home sales in December 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 331,000 units, a new record low.
The December pace of sales was 14.7% below the downwardly revised November rate of 388,000 units. Also according to the Commerce Department’s survey-based numbers, 482,000 new homes were sold in 2008, down 37.8% from the 2007 figure of 776,000. | | No comments for this item |
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Economics
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Written by Jonathan Smoke
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01.27.2009 |
 While yesterday provided some positive news that progress was being made on existing home inventories in December, today we received a reminder of how bad things were in November as well as further insight into why existing home sales have picked up.
Would you believe that home prices have fallen? Sarcasm aside, the recently released Case-Shiller Home Price data from Standard and Poor’s revealed that home prices set new record annual declines in November. | | No comments for this item |
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Economics
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Written by Jonathan Smoke
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01.26.2009 |
 Apparently December wasn’t all bleak for housing. The National Association of Realtors reported preliminary existing home sales for December today, and according to their report sales rose unexpectedly while inventory declined. The jump in sales was led by a surge of sales in the West.
Total existing-home sales rose 6.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.74 million units in December from a downwardly revised pace of 4.45 million units in November. That reversed two negative declines, including the 9.4% plunge in November. But compared to December 2007, sales were still down 3.5%. | | No comments for this item |
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