Archive for June, 2008

Wednesday’s Events: FOMC Rate Decision, U.S. New Home Sales, Durable Goods

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

U.S. durable goods orders, new home sales, and the Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories are the highlights of the early morning's events, but all data of the day will be eclipsed by the FOMC's rate decision at 2:15 p.m. EDT. Read More Now

Durable Goods Excluding Transport Falls in Line with Expectations in May

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Durable goods excluding transportation fell by 0.9% in May in the U.S. durable goods report on Wednesday, according to the Department of Commerce. Economists were expecting a 1.0% monthly decline following April's downwardly revised 1.9% increase. Read More Now

MBA Mortgage Applications Decline in Week Ending June 20

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States fell further in the week ending June 20, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported that applications fell by 9.3% week-over-week. In the previous week, applications fell by a revised 8.7%. The average loan size was... Read More ...

Treasury’s Ryan Says Financial System Should Allow Banks to Fail

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Speaking in London at Euromoney's Global Borrowers Investors Forum 2008, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets, Anthony Ryan said the financial system needs to become robust enough to allow for bank failures... Read More Now

Consumer Confidence Plummets to Lowest Level Since 1992

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for June tumbled to levels not seen since 1992 at 50.4 in Tuesday's report, led by a near 10-point decline in the present situation component. Economists were looking for a moderate decline to 56.0. The previous month's reading of 57.2 was revised upwards to 58.1. ...

U.S. House Prices Fall 0.8% Month-Over-Month in April, Says OFHEO

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

U.S. house prices fell 0.8% month-over-month in April following March's revised 0.6% decline, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported Tuesday. The consensus had been looking for a 0.4% month-over-month pullback in April. Leading the decline was a 2.0% month-over-month fall in the Pacific region, followed by a... ...

FOMC to Hold Interest Rates at 2.00%, Markets to Focus on Statement

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Not a single contrarian voice exists among the 101 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for Wednesday's U.S. rate announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee. All agree that the Fed will hold rates at 2.00% , which means the focus will turn towards the accompanying statement to look for insight as to ...

Greenspan Says Turmoil Could Last for Some Time

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Speaking via satellite to a conference in Johannesburg, Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said the financial market crisis will continue for some time, and could last well into 2009. The data implies the U.S. economy is on the brink of recession, said Greenspan, citing forecasts for very sluggish growth over the ...

U.S. Treasury’s Paulson Says Housing Remains Biggest Challenge

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

In an interview with a Mexican television station, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the biggest challenge facing the U.S. economy is an ailing housing sector, which he hopes will recover by the end of the year. Paulson stressed that economic fundamentals in the United State, nevertheless, remained strong, adding ...

Case Shiller Home Price Index Declines by Record Annual Levels in April

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

The S&P Case-Shiller home price index continued to deteriorate in April as the 20-city composite index posted a record annual decline of 15.3%. The Case-Shiller index has fallen every month since peaking in July 2006. The month-to-month decline in home prices was 1.36%, compared to the 2.17% loss in the previous ...