Archive for October, 2009

The Day Ahead: Home Price Index, Consumer Confidence, Treasury Auction

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

US equities are mixed in this morning’s future session after shares fell more than 1% on Monday. S&P 500 and Dow futures are each looking slightly up, but futures on the Nasdaq are slightly lower. Yesterday stocks fell in the absence of fresh economic data, but today should be ...(read ...

The Week Ahead: Treasury Auctions, Housing Data, Durable Goods, GDP

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Eight trading days have passed since the Dow crossed 10,000 for the first time in over a year. Yet mixed data and third-quarter earnings since then have caused equities to dance around the psychological threshold. On Friday the Dow closed at 9,972; heading into the week futures are pointing slightly ...

Freddie Mac’s Portfolio Grows. Delinquency Rate Continues to Rise

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Freddie Mac released their activity summary today. This data reports on monthly and year-to-date activity for Freddie Mac's Total Mortgage, Retained and Total PC portfolios. It also contains monthly delinquency rates and interest rate risk sensitivity disclosures....(read more)

Existing Homes Sales Benefit from Tax Credit. Perspective on Road Ahead

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Existing-home sales jumped 9.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.10 million in August, and are 9.2 percent higher than the 5.10 million-unit pace in September 2008. Overall, today's release indicated continued progress in the stabilization of the housing market. However ...

Consumer Protection Act Passes Committee Vote. HVCC Amendment Added

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

The House Financial Services Committee passed the Consumer Financial Protection Act on Thursday. The legislation will consolidate regulation of financial institutions into a single agency....(read more)

The Day Ahead: Equities Flat Ahead of Housing Data, Bernanke

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Equity futures are flat to slightly lower this morning after shares in the S&P 500 jumped 1.06% yesterday. Today markets will received fresh data for the housing market and look for headlines coming from Ben Bernanke and Co. speaking at day three of the Boston Fed’s conference in Cape Cod. The ...

Fed Purchases $3.62 Billion Agency MBS per day Last Week

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

The goal of the Federal Reserve's agency MBS program is to provide support to mortgage and housing markets and to foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally. Only fixed-rate agency MBS securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae are eligible assets for the program. The program ...

Jobless Claims Led Higher by Layoffs in Manufacturing and Construction

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

This data set tracks new filings for unemployment insurance benefits and the number of Americans who continue to receive state unemployment benefits (called continuing claims or insured unemployment). The fact that this data is released on a weekly basis makes it very appealing to traders and economists as it provides ...

The Day Ahead: Futures Lower Before Data, Earnings, Speeches

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Equity markets in the US have been falling for two consecutive days. Ahead of several data reports, speeches from Federal Reserve officials, and a deluge of earnings, a third day of sell-offs is looking probable as global markets are bleeding red across the board. Shares in China and Japan fell 0.62% ...

State of Housing: Tax Credit Must Be Extended to Sustain Stability

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on Tuesday as part of its consideration of a proposal to extend the November 30 end date of the homebuyers' tax credit and possibly extend it beyond first-time buyers....(read more)