Archive for September, 2009
Friday, September 25th, 2009
Weak orders for durable goods and a soft advance in new home sales have contributed to a lackluster performance in equity markets today. While a boost to consumer sentiment was able to help stocks recovery from a disappointing open, the gains were temporary.
As of 1:00pm, all three indexes appeared ...
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
New home sales increased for the fifth straight month in August, but the 0.7% gain didn’t match the median estimate of +1.6%. The annual pace of sales is now 429,000, or 3.4% below the August 2008 rate.
Not only were sales lower than expected, they were also so lopsided that only ...
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
Equity futures are looking slightly up in anticipation of some major data releases this morning. Global markets have been mixed, while the US$ is stronger and Gold is once again below $1,000 per ounce.
Today’s schedule includes Durable Goods, New Home Sales, and Consumer Sentiment. In addition, headlines from the G-20 ...
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
All three equity indexes have extended yesterday’s late day weakness into today. After a modest open, the S&P is trading near the lows of the day, down 1.18% to 1048 after a worse-than-anticipated housing report. As of 1:45 pm, shares in the NASDAQ are worse off with a 1.47% slide ...
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell 2.7% in August, pushing the annual rate to 5.10 million units from 5.24 million in July.
Compared to 12 months ago that pace is up 3.4%, but analysts were expecting a 2.1% boost this month due to low mortgage ...
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
The sharp sell-off in yesterday’s final hour hurt investor sentiment around the globe and contributed to general uncertainty about near-term prospects. Commodity prices are slightly weaker this morning with oil near $68 per barrel, while the US dollar has firmed from annual lows. Major events today include the weekly jobless ...
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Upon release of an upbeat communiqué from the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee, equity indexes jumped up to 11-month highs and the dollar weakened, but an hour later the dollar recovered and sent stocks plummeting.
The S&P 500 hit an intra-day high of 1,079.89 but by the close it had ...
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
When Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke called the recession “very likely over” last week, there was some talk about whether his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee agreed. In the policy statement issued Wednesday afternoon, it looks clear that they do.
“Economic activity has picked up following its severe downturn,” ...
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Stocks are flat and the US dollar is nearing 2009 lows as the Federal Reserve prepares to release its monetary policy statement this afternoon. It’s a near certainty that the central bank will hold short-term interest rates in the zero to 0.25% band, which puts the focus on the Fed’s ...
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Mortgage rates fell below 5% for the first time since mid-May last week, leading to increased appetite for refinancing, new loans, and purchases, an industry survey said Wednesday. The triple-front increases follow a soft performance in the holiday-shortened week before.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said the average mortgage rate fell to ...
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