From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier. “Refinance applications declined somewhat last week although volume is still near three-year highs, and purchase applications increased to the highest level...
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Some earlier news … • From Chicago ISM: Chicago Business Barometer gained incrementally The PMI increased to 53.7 from 52.9. Expectations were for a decrease to 52.5. The employment index decreased to 53.5 from 60.4, and new orders increased to 52.9 from 51.9. • From Reuters: Consumer confidence rises in July The Conference Board,...
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The top economic story last week was the eurozone deal. From the Financial Times: The agreement will result in EU bailout funds eventually being injected directly into teetering Spanish financial institutions, meaning Madrid can sweep the burden of the bailouts off its sovereign books. However, the rescue for Spain’s banks will only come after...
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In a reversal of fortune, the only recent good news has been from the housing sector. Housing starts were down slightly in May, but that was because of the volatile multi-family sector. The details were better: single family starts were up, revisions to previous reports were up, and permits were up sharply. The headline...
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Earlier: • Summary for Week Ending June 8th The key report this week is the May retail sales report. For manufacturing, the May NY Fed (Empire state) survey, and the May Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report will be released this week. For prices, the May Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index will...
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Earlier: • Summary for Week Ending June 1st Employment posts: • May Employment Report: 69,000 Jobs, 8.2% Unemployment Rate • May Employment Summary and Discussion • Employment Report Graphs: Construction, Duration of Unemployment and Diffusion Indexes • Employment Graphs The key report this week is the April Trade Balance report. Also the ISM non-manufacturing...
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Commercial real estate exposure contributed heavily to the nation's four bank failures last month, data analytics firm Trepp said Thursday. June's failed-bank tally was the second-lowest monthly count in the past year, according to Trepp, which has more than 1,000 banks on its watch list, with 250 at a high risk of failure. Among...
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A few comments: • Obviously the Japanese supply chain disruption impacted auto sales significantly in May and June. This has also negatively impacted manufacturing overall. • The good news is the supply issues are being resolved ahead of schedule and the automakers expect sales to be back up over 13 million Seasonally Adjusted Annual...
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I always pay close attention to Fed stories from Jon Hilsenrath at the WSJ: Fed Unlikely to Remove Its Economic Stimulus Just Yet Hilsenrath makes several key points: • QE2 will probably end in June: “the securities purchase program … is likely to end in June as scheduled.” • Tapering off of purchases unlikely:...
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U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN CHINA AND NORTH KOREA Image by roberthuffstutter WHILE IN COLLEGE, I TOOK A NUMBER OF FAR-EAST COURSES. THIS PAINTING REPRESENTS THE FIRST OFFICIAL TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA, "THE WANGHIA TREATY." HOW IRONIC IT HAD TO DO WITH TRADE BALANCE AND TRADE BETWEEN THE T WO NATIONS. WHAT...
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