Be Ready or Miss Out on the Deal

Every school day I drive by a house that I almost bought a few years ago as an investment. I really wanted to buy it. I tried to make an offer on it. But I missed out. And now I am reminded of it often. A few ...

Will the New Federal Bailouts Help Homeowners?

The federal government announced another plan to help homeowners at risk of losing their homes. This new plan promises borrowers reduced interest rates and/or longer terms to make the monthly payments more affordable. However, it will only be available to loans under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which ...

The Who, What, and Why of a Short Sale

With the current financial crisis over our heads, we are hearing a lot more about something called short sales. What exactly is a short sale and who can benefit from a short sale? In a short sale, the lender agrees to discount a mortgage balance due to an economic ...

Real Estate Success Means Changing with the Times

Are we not all tired of hearing about this languishing real estate market?? The real estate and credit crisis are on everyone’ minds and dominate all news sources. But the truth is that it IS a big deal and it IS impacting every facet of the economy, even ...

Fed Funds Futures Pricing 31.1% Chance of Rate Cut for Fed?s Year End Meeting

Fed funds futures are now pricing a 31.1% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 bps for the year end meeting scheduled for Dec. 16 amid a growing U.S. trade deficit and increasing continuing claims report released today. Read More Now

Friday?s Events: U.S. Retail Sales, PPI, Michigan Sentiment; Cdn Cap Utilization

U.S. retail sales and producer prices will highlight the early morning's macroeconomic events for the United States, followed by the preliminary Reuters / University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. In Canada, the focus will be on second-quarter capacity utilization rates and the international investment position. Read More Now ...

What?s Priced in: Current Market Expectations for Future Monetary Policy

Markets are currently pricing in the following probabilities for future interest rate moves as of the close on Thursday: FED - OIS Implied Rates Markets are pricing in a 12% chance of a 25bp cut by the next meeting on Sept. 16. Markets are pricing in a 2% chance of a 25bp cut ...

U of Michigan & Reuters Consumer Sentiment Soars in September

The preliminary consumer sentiment survey from Reuters & the University of Michigan soared over 10 points to 73.1 from last month's 63.0 reading. Also, one-year inflation expectations moved down dramatically to 3.6% from August's 4.8% forecast, the biggest monthly drop in nearly three years. Read More Now

Analysts Say Soaring U.S. Consumer Sentiment Won’t Prevent Weak Q3 Consumption

As commodity prices continue to fall, U.S. consumers are feeling much better than economists expected, according to the preliminary consumer sentiment survey from Reuters & the University of Michigan on Friday. However, a less pessimistic reading doesn't mean consumers will rush out to spend their money, economists say. Read ...

Greenspan Says Fed Should Avoid Bailout of Lehman Brothers

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the current problems of Lehman Brothers can be solved without having to resort to a bailout by the Fed. Greenspan cautioned that the Federal Reserve should not become the "overseer of financial stability." Greenspan added that ...

Senators Ask that Conservatorship Freeze Foreclosures on GSE Mortgages

Four U.S. Senators have asked the conservators of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to freeze foreclosures on mortgages held by the companies for 90 days and to take immediate steps to assist homeowners by modifying delinquent loans. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Robert Menendez (D- NJ), and Charles Schumer (D-NY) ...

August All-Items PPI Falls 0.9%, Core Up 0.2% M/M

The U.S. Department of Labor's seasonally adjusted core measure of producer price inflation came in line with expectations with a 0.2% month-over-month gain in August, slower than the 0.7% gain seen in the previous month. The all-items measure of producer price inflation fell 0.9% in the month following a 1.2% ...

Friday’s Events: U.S. Retail Sales, PPI, Michigan Sentiment; Cdn Cap Utilization

U.S. retail sales and producer prices will highlight the early morning's macroeconomic events for the United States, followed by the preliminary Reuters / University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. In Canada, the focus will be on second-quarter capacity utilization rates and the international investment position. Read More Now

Foreclosures at Highest Rate Since January 2005, Says RealtyTrac

U.S. home foreclosures climbed 27% from the previous month's year-over-year results, according to RealtyTrac's August 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. There were 303,879 foreclosure filings in the month of August, a 12% increase from the prior month. According to RealtyTrac, one in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing. ...

Most Mortgage Rates Dip to Spring Levels under Federal Conservatorship

In its first week at least, the conservatorship of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae accomplished one part of the hoped-for effect; longer term mortgage rates plunged to levels not seen for months. Freddie's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended September 11 (which includes the four business days since Sunday's ...

Quarterly Revenue Survey Shows Broad Advances in Q2

A quarterly look at the services sector in the U.S. revealed gains in each of the areas surveyed. Also, revisions in the U.S. Census Bureau report for Q1 data were mostly upward. Read More Now

Fed Funds Futures Pricing 31.1% Chance of Rate Cut for Fed’s Year End Meeting

Fed funds futures are now pricing a 31.1% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 bps for the year end meeting scheduled for Dec. 16 amid a growing U.S. trade deficit and increasing continuing claims report released today. Read More Now

Initial Jobless Claims Fall Back Slightly to 445k

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States came in just slightly above expectations, but still fell 6k from the previous week's upwardly revised figure, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Continuing claims rose to 3.525 million for the week ending Aug. 30. Read More Now

Fed’s Kohn Says “Jury Still Out” on Whether Housing Bottom Near

Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman Donald Kohn (voter) said it's not yet clear if house prices in the U.S. are close to finding a bottom. Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., Kohn did say it's encouraging that the pace of declines is starting to abate in some markets. He noted ...

U.S. Trade Deficit Surges to $62.2 Billion in July

The U.S. monthly trade deficit widened more than expected in July to $62.2 billion, marking the deepest monthly deficit since March 2007. The consensus was for the deficit to come in at $58.0 billion, following an upwardly revised $58.8 billion in June, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. Read ...

Economists Say Initial Claims Suggest Jobs Market to Stay Weak for Months

Economists say the jobless claims survey for the week ending Sept. 6 suggests that labor market conditions will remain weak for several months. The pace of initial claims has remained above the 400k threshold for eight weeks now, and it is becoming more likely with each week that the elevated ...

RBC CASH Index Says U.S. Consumers Feeling Better on All Fronts

With oil prices falling and a presidential election in less than two months, U.S. consumer confidence may be heating up, says a monthly survey from RBC on Thursday. The index has advanced for two consecutive months, including major boosts in each of the three subcomponents in September. Read More ...

Thursday’s Events: U.S. Jobless Claims, Import Prices; U.S. & Cdn Trade Balance

The U.S. trade balance, jobless claims, and import prices will highlight the day's economic news with Canada receiving the international merchandise trade balance and new housing price index. In Europe, central bankers are busy attending the Ecofin meeting in Nice, France where ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and ECB Governing Council ...

Economist Says U.S. recovery Unlikely Before 2009

The economy may show flashes of strength before the end of the year, says one of Canada's best known economists, but a real recovery "is a 2009 story." The U.S. Treasury's takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae helps, but the country is still teetering on the brink of a recession, ...

Fed Funds Futures Price in 17.5% Chance of a Rate Cut for Year-End

Fed Funds Futures are currently pricing in a 17.5% chance of a 25 bps rate cut for the year-end Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for Dec. 16, as markets are focused on earnings results from Lehman brothers and a larger-than- expected draw on crude and gasoline inventories. Read More Now

Mortgage Rates Decline Over Labor Day Week but Real News Should Come this Week

The average mortgage rates reported below result from surveys that concluded two or three days before the federal takeover tsunami hit the market.

Wednesday’s Events: Canadian Labour Prod; DOE Oil; ECB’s Weber

Canadian second-quarter labour productivity highlights the Canadian economic news of the day as U.S. markets receive the Department of Energy's oil inventories and Europeans hear from Bundesbank President Axel Weber. Read More Now

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Up in Week Ending September 5

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States increased in the week ending Sept. 5, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 9.5% week-over-week rise in applications. Read More Now

Experts Moderate Initial Enthusiasm for GSE Takeover

Old Conventional Wisdom, Monday version:

Tuesday’s Events: Canadian Housing Starts & U.S. Pending Home Sales

Canadian housing starts and U.S. pending home sales will be the main highlights of the day's macroeconomic data releases, but comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaking on education and European Central Banker Jos

Treasuries Rally and Stocks Decline as Lehman Shares Tumble

Shares of Lehman Brothers are in free fall after talks between the investment bank and a Korean state-controlled bank broke off. Shares of the company, which is the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, are trading at their lowest since... Read More Now

S&P Puts Lehman on Watch for Downgrade

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's put Lehman Brothers on watch for a possible downgrade because of a rapidly declining share price and potential difficulties raising capital. S&P said the long-term 'A' rating and short-term 'A-1' counterparty credit ratings are under scrutiny. Read More Now

Decline in U.S. Pending Home Sales Fail to Suggest a Bottom, Economists Say

U.S. pending home sales fell more than twice the consensus expectation in July, falling by 3.2% in the month following an upwardly revised 5.8% rebound in the previous month. The report fails to indicate a bottoming out in the housing sector, economists say, though the pace of decline is slowing ...

White House Says Bailout Plan is the Right Move at the Right Time

The White House considers the U.S. Treasury's actions to bail out Fannie and Freddie the appropriate action to take, but thinks that Congress should look at reforming the GSEs. "President Bush thinks that the move that Secretary Paulson worked on is the right move at the right time. And this ...

Pending Home Sales Falls 3.2% in July

U.S. pending home sales fell more than expected by 3.2% in July, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday. The decline follows a 5.8% rebound in the previous month, so taken together the index suggests a sideways moving trend. Read More Now

IMF’s Lipsky Sees Global Economic Recovery Coming in 2009

Speaking in Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday, International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky speculated that the global economic slowdown would worsen in the second half of 2008, but expected recovery to come in the following year. "The recovery of global economic activity in 2009 would be driven by... ...

Preview: July Pending Home Sales Expected to Retrace from June Bounce

Pending U.S. home sales in July are expected to have declined from the robust increase seen in June, more or less confirming a "sideways" trend, economists say. Economists polled by Bloomberg are calling for a monthly decrease of 1.3% in July, following a spike of 5.3% seen in June. Expectations ...

Bernanke Avoids Monetary Policy in Speech on Afro-American Education

In a speech at the 2008 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernnake made no comments on monetary policy or the U.S. economy, focusing rather on the importance of educational institutions which played a historical role in the education of ...

IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index Improves for Second Month

U.S. economic sentiment improved for the second month in a row in September, according to a report from Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence. The IBD/TIPP index of economic optimism bounced up three points to a reading of 45.8, up from August's 42.8 level and above expectations of a ...

Reactions to U.S. GSE Takeover Range from Strong Support to Taxpayer Worries

The government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wasn't just welcomed by U.S. markets; it also received broad support from the Fed, other central bankers and financial newspapers. However, many are also concerned about how much the de facto nationalization of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) could cost American taxpayers. ...

Treasuries Rally as Mortgage Rates Fall

Treasuries overcame a variety of bearish factors to close higher on Monday. Traders said a sharp decline in mortgage rates sparked a powerful round of buying. Treasuries initially sold off and yields moved higher because of an equity rally and the expected increased U.S. government borrowing. At their highs, 2-year ...

Treasury Department Announces GSE Conservatorship

Unless you spent Sunday spelunking in Howe's Cavern, you probably know that at about 11 a.m. the other shoe finally dropped. After weeks of anticipation and speculation, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the federal government had taken over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Read More Now

$1.5 Trillion of Fannie and Freddie Default Swaps to be Unwound

Market watchers are warning of forced selling and diminished liquidity as credit default swaps (CDS) on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are unwound following the government bailout of the companies. It appears an estimated $1.47 trillion in contracts protecting against the default of Fannie and Freddie will need to be settled ...

Economists Pleased with Government Takeover of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Economists are reacting positively to the largest- ever financial rescue by the U.S. government - the takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced on Sunday. The deal should help to soften mortgage rates and make it easier for Americans to finance a home, which will contribute positively to ...

Fed Supports Govt Decision of FF Takover Says Bernanke

In a statement released on the Fed's website following an announcement of a takeover of GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke threw his support behind the Treasury Department's decision, saying the move would help stabilize the financial system. "I strongly endorse both the decision by FHFA Director ...

Treasury’s Paulson Touts Fannie and Freddie Bailout Plan on Media Round

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made the rounds of all the media outlets this morning, touting his bailout rescue plan of government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "This is not something I want to do, but this is necessary," said Henry Paulson in a interview with CNBC. ...

U.S. Government Announces Takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

In an effort to support the U.S. housing market at the minimum cost to the taxpayer, the U.S. government announced on Sunday plans to takeover Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which have come under severe pressure as mortgage delinquencies continue to soar, and house prices collapse. ...

The Week Ahead: U.S. PPI and Retail Sales

Traders expect U.S. bonds to potentially move lower with very little data for markets to digest next week. The main data releases in North America are expected later on in the week with the issuance of U.S. PPI, retail sales and the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment figures. "Outside of ...

Friday’s Events: U.S. & Canadian Employment Reports; Ivey PMI

The Canadian and U.S. employment reports for August followed by the Canadian Ivey PMI will be today's main highlights for North America. In the afternoon, markets will also hear from San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen (non-voter). Read More Now

Study Says U.S. ‘Housing Bubble Has Popped’

A report on housing prices by Global Insight says that although prices for single-family homes are still heading downwards across the country, the rate of decline has gone down and "extreme overvaluation of house prices is essentially non-existent." Read More Now

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Hits 29-Year High in Second Quarter of 2008

Mortgage delinquencies for U.S. homes in the second quarter of 2008 moved up six basis points from the previous quarter to 6.41% of all loans outstanding, marking a 29-year high, according to the MBA's National Delinquency Survey released Friday. Read More Now

August Nonfarm Payrolls Decline 84k, Unemployment Rate at 6.1%

U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined for the eighth straight month, falling more than expected by a total of 84k jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The unemployment rate was pushed up four-tenths to 6.1% (6.055%), well above expectations that it would remain at 5.7%.Read More ...

Fed’s Fisher Says Inflation Might Not Moderate

The most hawkish voting member on the Federal Open Market Committee said on Thursday that it's unclear whether slow growth will moderate inflation into 2009, and said there are even odds that inflation will accelerate from its current level. Read More Now

$7,500 Tax Credit Now Available to First-Time Home Buyers

When Congress passed the housing rescue bill (The Housing Assistance Act of 2008) in July, we published an article about some of the tax traps contained in the bill, waiting in hiding for the unwary. Warnings duly noted, further information and the regulations regarding this tax credit are now available. ...

Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 444k

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States came in well above expectations, rising to 444k in the week ending Aug. 30, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Continuing claims rose to 3.435 million for the week ending Aug. 23. Read More Now

Thursday’s Events: ECB & BOE Rates, ADP Employment, ISM Services, Fed-Speak

The Bank of England and European Central Bank rate decisions will kick off the day, followed by the U.S. ADP unemployment report, initial jobless claims, the ISM non-manufacturing index, Department of Energy oil inventories and some Fed-speakers in the afternoon. Read More Now

Economists Say Fed’s Beige Book is Downbeat, but No Regions in Outright Decline

Markets failed to move on the release of the Fed's Beige Book, an anecdotal summary of the 12 District Banks over the six weeks ending Aug. 25. Economists say the report continues to reveal broad- based weakness, tight credit conditions and elevated price pressures, though not a single region was in ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Up in Week Ending September 3

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States increased in the week ending Sept. 3, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 7.5% week-over-week rise in applications. Read More Now

CME Group Volumes Fell 32% in August

The number of trades at exchanges run by the CME Group declined by 32% in August compared to a year ago, the company revealed Wednesday. "In August 2007, CME Group recorded its highest monthly volume ever due to the onset of the subprime lending crisis and the ensuing impact on global ...

Mortgage Rates are Mixed, but ARMs Nearly Disappear as Factor in Financing

Due to reports of continued weakness in the economy, rates on fixed- rate mortgages edged lower during the week ended August 28 according to the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Last week 34.0 percent of mortgage applications were for the purpose of refinancing an existing loan, down from 35.2 ...

Wednesday’s Events: BOC Rates; U.S. Factory Orders & Beige Book

The Bank of Canada's rate decision tops the news of the day for the country as U.S. markets receive factory orders and the Fed's Beige Book. Also on Wednesday, Europeans will be looking out for comments from European Central banker Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell. Read More Now

Radar Logic Survey Says U.S. Housing Sector Will Weaken in 2009, Recover in 2011

In contrast to expectations that the U.S. housing market could see a turnaround in the first half of 2009, the monthly housing price index report for June from Radar Logic suggests that recovery won't occur until 2011. Read More Now

Korean Development Bank in Talks to Buy Stake in Lehman

Shares of Lehman Brothers are up 2.8% on Monday after the state-owned Korean Development Bank (KDB) affirmed interest in the embattled Wall Street firm. Read More Now

Construction Spending Drops in July

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, construction spending in the United States declined 0.6% month-over-month in July. The total construction figure for June was revised to... Read More Now

Fed’s Kroszner Says Credit Turmoil Impairing Emerging Markets

Fed Governor Randall Kroszner said emerging market growth is being hampered by the current credit turmoil. Speaking on the international financial system at a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kroszner said the challenge of dealing with slowing economic growth around the world has been "complicated" by higher food and energy prices. ...

Fed’s Hoenig Says Fed’s Response to Crisis Makes Price Stability Difficult

Kansas Fed President Thomas Hoenig said the Federal Reserve's response to the U.S. credit crisis has threatened its ability to keep inflation under control. Speaking on the financial turmoil at a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hoenig said combating inflation is the Fed's key mandate, and added that the Personal ...

Tuesday’s Events: EU PPI, UK Consumer Confidence, U.S. ISM Mfg Report

Euro zone PPI and the UK construction PMI and consumer confidence index for August will dominate the European session as U.S. markets brace for the ISM's manufacturing report for August. At 4:30 a.m. EDT, Markit Economics will release the UK's construction PMI for August. The headline index is expected to decline ...

PCE Report Points to Weak Third Quarter, Economists Say

There were few surprises in the Personal Consumption and Expenditure (PCE) report released Friday, though economists say the data all points to weaker third-quarter results. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) core deflator, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, came in line with expectations, advancing by 0.3% (0.273%) in July, ...

Thursday’s Events: U.S. Prelim GDP, Jobless Claims

In the U.S., the focus will be on preliminary Q2 GDP data and jobless claims figures, while Canadian markets receive second-quarter current account numbers. Read More Now

Upward Revision to U.S. Q2 GDP Due to Exports and Tax Rebates

The strong upward revision to second quarter U.S. GDP was the result of strong exports and the fiscal stimulus package, according to economists who are already looking forward to GDP results from the third quarter. Read More Now

Q2 Preliminary U.S. GDP Revised Up to 3.3%

Second-quarter U.S. GDP rose above expectations in the preliminary report, rising to 3.3% from the previously reported 1.9%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Thursday. Economists were expecting a revision to 2.7%. First-quarter growth in 2008 was 0.9%. Exports advanced by 13.2% in the revision, up from... Read ...

Bankruptcy Filings Near 1 Million Mark, Up 29% on the Year

The number of U.S. residents and businesses that filed for bankruptcy rose 28.9% to 976,831 for the year ended June 30, 2008, according to U.S. court data released Wednesday. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported that non- business filings comprised 96.5% of that total... Read More Now

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Down in Week Ending August 22

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States increased in the week ending Aug. 22, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 0.5% week-over-week rise in applications. In the previous week, applications also fell by 1.5%. Read More Now

Mortgage Rates Drop Slightly but Loan Applications Way Down from 2007 Levels

Mortgage interest rates broke through the gridlock of the last few weeks and, with the exception of one-year adjustable rates, moved lower. Mortgage activity as measured by the volume of loan applications increased by a marginal 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier and decreased by 0.9 ...

FDIC’s Problem Bank List Continues to Grow

Sheila C. Bair, chairman of the FDIC said, "By any yardstick, it was another rough quarter for bank earnings, but the results were not unexpected as the industry coped with financial market disruptions, the housing slump, worsening economic conditions, and the overall downturn in the credit cycle." Higher provisions for ...

Fed’s Lockhart Says House Prices May Fall Another 15%

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart welcomed the recent rise in the U.S. dollar, but said home prices in the U.S. could fall another 10-15%. Following a speech at an Economic Outlook Conference in Atlanta Wednesday, Lockhart said "housing prices will continue to decline," perhaps by as much as 15%. Read ...

Wednesday’s Events: German Inflation Data; U.S. Durable Goods, Oil Inventories

German inflation data and comments from ECB's Lucas Papademos will top the macroeconomic release menu for the European session as U.S. markets prepare for durable goods, weekly oil inventories and a two-year bond auction. Canada's main releases for the day include some employment data followed by a real return bond ...

U.S. House Prices Flat in June, Says OFHEO

U.S. house prices were flat in June following May's revised 0.4% pullback, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported Tuesday. The consensus had been looking for a decline of 0.4% in the month... Read More Now

Lower Gas Prices Drove Rebound in U.S. Consumer Confidence Survey

Consumer confidence continued to rise in August, which economists largely attribute to a drop in gas prices over the past several months. However, despite the improvement in recent months, they say the index remains at depressed levels. Read More Now

Consumer Confidence Improves to 56.9 in August

The Conference Board's U.S. consumer confidence index for August improved to 56.9 in Tuesday's report, higher than the expected improvement to 53.0. "Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year... Read More Now

Some Economists Find “Cheery Quality” to U.S. New Homes Sales Report

Despite 46k of downward revisions in the previous two months, which pushed the pace of new home sales lower than expected even with a 2.4% monthly rebound, economists said the Department of Commerce's July report was positive as the level of inventories saw a notable reduction. Eric Lascelles, chief economics and ...

Meeting Minutes Say FOMC’s Stance Remains Neutral

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) Aug. 4-5 meeting show that board members "did not see the current stance of policy as particularly accommodative." It also revealed that most members anticipate the next policy move to be a tightening of rates, but the timing and extent of ...

New Home Sales Rise, but Downward Revisions to Prior Data

New home sales in the U.S. rebounded by 2.4% to an annual pace of 515k in July, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Despite the percentage gain, that pace of sales is much lower than expected following 46k of downward revisions to the previous data. Read More Now

Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index Declines by 15.4% in Q2

The S&P Case-Shiller U.S. home price index fell less than expected in the second-quarter as the 20-city composite index posted an annual decline of 15.38%, up from a 14.22% decline in the first quarter. The Case-Shiller index has fallen every month since peaking in July 2006, but economists say the ...

Fed’s Fisher Says Growth Could Go Negative, but Focus Remains on Inflation

Speaking in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires on Monday, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher (voter) said growth in the U.S. could slow to zero or even turn negative in the second half of 2008, but the main issue remains whether inflation will become persistent or not. Read More ...

Freddie and Fannie Buck Market Trend

In spite of the beating the stock market took on Monday with the Dow Jones down 242 points and even though financial stocks were among the biggest losers, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae shares came roaring back from their awful performance on Friday. Jim Cramer said on NBC news Tuesday morning ...

The Day Ahead: U.S. July New Home Sales, FOMC Minutes

Housing data will be center of attention on Tuesday with the release of U.S. new home sales for July and the June Case- Shiller Home Price Index. U.S. new home sales are expected to fall 0.9% to 525k in July following June's decline of 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Case-Shiller home price composite for ...

Existing Home Sales Rise 3.1% to 5.00 Million in July

U.S. existing home sales rose more than expected to 5.00 million units in July, a 3.1% gain in the month, following June's revised sales figure of 4.85 million. With that gain the index rebounded to the highest level in five months, although the range in the past 11 months has ...

Existing Home Sales Don’t Signal Market Normalization, Economists Say

Economists say the larger-than-expected rise in July existing home sales doesn't necessarily point towards stabilization, since more than a third of the sales are related to foreclosures. They also note that a record high inventory level will put downward pressure on prices going forward. Read More Now

Fed’s Plosser Could Vote for Rate Hikes, New York Times Reports

In an interview with the New York Times, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said he might consider dissenting in favour of raising interest rates to fight inflation and maintain the Fed's credibility. "Dissent serves a function of illuminating for the public the nature of the policy debates..." Read More Now

Jackson Hole “Didn’t Settle a Whole Lot”

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, and former central bank officials and head economists all met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming over the weekend, one year after the start of the financial crisis that has led to more than $500 billion in losses and writedowns, ...

The Week Ahead: U.S. Housing Sales, Case-Shiller Home Prices

Economists, strategists and traders do not expect next week's releases to shed any new light on the current economic environment. Markets will receive more data on the U.S. housing market, July's durable goods orders, PCE report, and minutes from the FOMC Aug. 5 meeting. In Canada the only data of ...

Warren Buffet Says U.S. Economy Could be Worse off in Five Months

The U.S. economy continues to be in recession and will continue to be for some time, according to billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Appearing on CNBC Friday morning, Buffet said he is confident the economy is in recession because... Read More Now

Friday’s Events: Fed’s Bernanke to Speak on Financial Stability

Markets will be interested to hear what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has to say about the current economic climate. Bernanke will be in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, speaking about financial stability. There will be no macroeconomic data coming out of Canada. Read More Now

Thursday’s Events: U.S. Jobless Claims, Philly Fed

Following the early-morning release of Canadian CPI, markets will now turn their attention to the release of U.S. initial and continuing jobless claims and the Philly Fed survey for August. Read More Now

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Back to 432k

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States dropped back slightly to 432k in the week ending Aug. 16, coming down 13k from the previous week's downwardly revised 445k figure, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Continuing claims fell to 3.362 million for the week ending Aug. 9. ...

Expect Two More ‘Waves’ of U.S. Foreclosures, Economist Warns

While the U.S is currently in the midst of the largest bout of home foreclosures in at least 30 years, at least one economist says two more 'waves' are likely on the way. Patrick Newport, a housing economist at Global Insight, said the next round of foreclosures could come over ...

Fed’s Stern Says Now Not “Appropriate Time” to Close Fannie, Freddie

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Gary Stern said Wednesday that now is not an "appropriate time" to close government-sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Stern said it is "important" for Fannie and Freddie to function and that they should be re-oriented towards lower income ...

Commercial Real Estate Prices Down for Fourth Straight Month, Moody’s Says

Commercial real estate prices continued falling in June, according to the Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI), which recorded a 3.3% monthly decline, marking a 9.6% decrease from year-ago levels. Read More Now

NAR Commercial Leading Indicator Weakens, Projecting Further Declines

A leading indicator for the U.S. commercial real estate market continued decelerating for the fourth consecutive quarter on Wednesday, according to the National Association of Realtors, who also said that commercial real estate activity would weaken over the next six to nine months. Read More Now

In Face of Conflicting Economic Reports, Interest Rates Stand Pat

Mortgage interest rates for the week ended August 14 as reported from data collected by Freddie Mac from its Primary Mortgage Market Survey drifted in a very narrow range as they have done for most of 2008. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ...

Wednesday’s Events: Cdn Retail Sales; BOC to Sell Two-Year Note; DOE Oil Inventories

Canadian retail sales followed by the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories will hold the focus of Wednesday's news releases on what is shaping up to be a mild day of economic news for North America. At midday, markets will also be paying attention to the Bank of Canada ...

Soft Freddie Mac 5-Year Auction Shows Credit Worries

U.S. government-backed mortgage finance company Freddie Mac caused ripples through the debt market on Tuesday after weak results in a $3 billion, 5-year note auction. The reference note sold for 113.0 basis points above the 5-year Treasury benchmark. Before the auction, the 5-year spread was 105 bps. Read More Now

Fed’s Fisher Says FOMC Cannot Risk Credibility, Must Act if Inflation Continues

The Federal Reserve must be prepared to take action and curb inflation if slowing growth doesn't moderate prices as expected, said the most hawkish member of the FOMC on Tuesday. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher (voter), who has dissented from keeping interest rates on hold at the last two FOMC ...

Weakening Economy Favours Obama Win, Economists Say

The weakening economy is a major negative factor for the Republicans and presents candidate John McCain with an uphill battle for the Oval Office, economists from Global Insight say. Historically, there has only been one other election year where year- over-year growth in disposable income per capita was negative, noted Nigel ...

Fed’s Lacker Says Rate Hike Should Come Sooner Rather than Later

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker (non-voter) said the Fed should not wait too long for a rate hike. The Richmond Fed President said inflation will slow if oil prices drop. He added that inflation is still a "risky situation," and that keeping inflation ...

More Negative Press for Fannie and Freddie

Last week former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan strongl y criticized the form of the Congressionally mandated Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae "backstop" program and a survey by the Wall Street Journal found that a small majority of economists involved thought the bailout of the two government sponsored entities (GSEs) would ultimately be ...

July All-Items PPI Soars 1.2%, Core up 0.7% M/M

The U.S. Department of Labor's seasonally adjusted core measure of producer price inflation grew well beyond expectations with a 0.7% month-over-month gain in July, much faster than the 0.2% gain seen in the previous two months. The all-items measure of producer price inflation soared 1.2% in the month, following an ...

Tuesday’s Events: PPI, Housing Starts and Building Permits

The release of U.S. producer price index along with housing starts and building permits for July tops news today. Markets will also be paying attention to comments from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaking at separate events. Read More Now

Drop in U.S. Housing Starts Due to Inflated June Figure, but Trend Still Downward

Despite coming in slightly higher than was expected, housing starts still slid 11% to 965k in July, though economists say the drop is misleading given the artificially high reading in June. Last month, economists unanimously agreed that the headline index was misleading due to a change in the housing code ...

U.S. Housing Starts Fall 11% in July

U.S. housing starts fell in July, but came in above expectations at 965k, representing a month-over-month decrease of 11.0%, according to data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday morning. The drop in the headline is misleading, however, as changes in the housing code of New York City ...

NAHB Builder Confidence Remains at Record Low in August

A report from Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) suggests that homebuilders remained at record- gloomy levels in August as the housing market index, which measures builder confidence, stayed at a record low of 16. Read More Now

Foreclosures Loom as Possible Public Health Menace

It seems hard to believe, but there appears to be yet one more thing for which we can blame the mortgage crisis. And this is not a financial problem; it is a public health concern. Several cable networks have reported over the last few weeks that the hundreds of foreclosed houses ...

Still No End in Sight for Falling U.S. House Prices, Says Scotiabank Report

U.S. house prices still have room to fall, according to a report on real estate trends issued by Scotiabank economists. The report notes that while the rate of decline has moderated since the spring, sales in the month of June fell to 5.4 million units, a 35% decline since prices hit ...

Monday’s Events: Cdn Securities Transactions and Travel; U.S. NAHB Housing Index

The week kicks off with two Statistics Canada reports, one on securities transactions and another on travel between Canada and other countries. Meanwhile in the U.S., the NAHB housing market index will indicate how the sector is holding up in August after hitting a historic low in last month's report. ...

Fed Fund Futures Expect Slim Chance of Rate Hike in Near-Term

The Fed fund futures market expectations of a rate hike continue to diminish after today's modest rise in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index. Markets are currently pricing in an 88% chance of no rate hike for the Sept. 16 meeting. This is a 2% increase from yesterday's 86% ...

Alan Greenspan Sees Housing Prices Sort of Hitting Bottom in mid-2009

Greenspan said that he expects housing prices to begin to stabilize in the first half of 2009 although they could continue to drift lower for quite some time thereafter, even after essentially reaching bottom. Greenspan, however, is not changing his long-standing belief that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae represent the root ...

Fed’s Evans Said U.S. Economy Faces Three-Front Battle

The downside risks to growth have recently risen and the economy is expected to be "extremely sluggish" in 2008, according to one Fed official on Friday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans (non-voter) said the U.S. economy faces a triple-front threat as growth risks are on the rise, inflation is "unsettingly high" ...

U of Michigan Reuters Consumer Sentiment Improves Half a Point in August

The preliminary consumer sentiment survey from Reuters & the University of Michigan improved half a point to 61.7, following the previous month's near five-point rebound. Also, one-year inflation expectations moved down to 4.8% from July's 5.1% forecast. The slight improvement contrasts with the recent deterioration in the weekly survey of consumer ...

Economists Dismiss Boost in U.S. Industrial Production Report

Economists say the unexpected boost in the Fed's industrial production report doesn't change the overall trend in the economy, which is clearly on a downward slope. The report unexpectedly rose 0.2% in the month of July, against expectations that it would come in flat, while the previous month's gain was ...

Metropolitan Home Prices Decline Nearly 8% in Q2, Sales at 10-year Low

Prices of homes in the United States fell by an average of 7.6% in the second quarter of 2008, compared to the previous year, as 115 of the 150 metro areas surveyed saw declines, according to a new release from the National Association of Realtors. Read More Now

Fed’s Stern Says 1990s Recession Offers Valuable Guide to Current Turmoil

The current economic turmoil is comparable to the early 1990s, which can be a valuable guide to understanding what's next as the U.S. economy seeks to rebound into healthy growth, according to one Fed official on Thursday. Minneapolis Fed President Gary Stern, a voter on the FOMC who is known to ...

July Core CPI Up 0.3% as Total Inflation Rises 0.8%

The seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index rose more than expected on both fronts, as the core rate ticked up 0.3% (0.327%) in July, contributing to a 2.5% year-over-year change. Total inflation rose 0.8% (0.818%) in the month and 5.6% on the year, according to data released by the U.S. Labor ...

Foreclosures Continue To Climb in July, Says Realty Trac Report

U.S. home foreclosures jumped by 55% from the previous month's year-over-year results, according to RealtyTrac's July 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. There were 272,171 foreclosure filings in the month of July, an 8% increase from the prior month. According to RealtyTrac, one in every 464 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing... ...

Fixed Income Futures Rise on Weekly Jobless Claims

Ignoring a higher CPI report, U.S. fixed income markets took worse- than-expected jobless claims figures at face value on Thursday, with bonds increasing on the arguably soft data. Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States dropped back slightly to 450K in the week ending Aug. 9, but forecasts were for ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Decline in Week Ending Aug. 8

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States fell in the week ending Aug. 8, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 1.5% week-over-week decline in applications. Read More Now

Wednesday’s Events: U.S. Advance Retail Sales, Business Inventories

US advance retail sales data along with business inventories will dominate the agenda on Wednesday. In light of falling energy prices, DOE crude inventories will also be watched closely to see how supplies are holding up. Read More Now

Rates Remain Mostly Flat while Mortgage Applications Lag, Hitting Four Year Low

Mortgage interest rates remained flat during the week ended August 7 according to the weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in results from its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey reported... Read More Now

Central Bank Watch: Banks in Wait-and-See Mode, Some Moves Expected by Year End

Another round of major world central bank decisions are out of the way, yet rates are still where they were at prior to the decisions. However, many economists expect at least some of the banks to start moving on rates before the end of the year. Read More ...

One Quarter of U.S. Homes Sold in Past Year Were at a Loss, Report Says

U.S. home values fell by nearly 10% in the second quarter of 2008, causing one in four home sales over the past year to be at a loss, according to a new real estate survey. Zillow.com, an online real estate community, is reporting that U.S. home values in the second ...

Fed’s Stern Says Inflation Outlook Has Improved

Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Gary Stern (voter) said the outlook on core and headline inflation has improved. Stern commented that the current drop in energy prices has alleviated inflation concerns. He added that it would be "some time before we see some growth in the ...

Freddie To Stop Buying New York State Subprime Mortgages

According the Dow Jones, Freddie Mac has announced that they will no longer be purchasing subprime mortgages secured by properties in the state of New York. This includes all mortgages with a note date on or after Sept 1. Read More Now

Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Shrinks to $56.8 Billion in June

The U.S. monthly trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in June to $56.8 billion, a much narrower deficit than the -$62.0 billion balance expected by markets. May's deficit figure was upwardly revised to $59.2 billion from a previously reported $59.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Read More Now

Will Vacant Retail Space Fuel the Next Real Estate Bust?

Five years ago I moved from Boston to Southeast Georgia and was immediately plunged into shoppers' hell. Not only was there no Costco (70 miles to the closest one) or Crate and Barrel (five hours away in Atlanta), there wasn't a major retailer of pet supplies, a decent department store, ...

What’s Priced In: Current Market Expectations for Future Monetary Policy

Markets are currently pricing in the following probabilities for future interest rate moves as of the close on Monday: FED - OIS Implied Rates Markets are pricing in a 22% chance of a 25bp hike by the next meeting on Sept. 16. Markets are pricing in a 38% chance of a 25bp hike ...

U.S. Trade Deficit Expected to Boost Q2 GDP

Economists say the unexpected narrowing in the June trade deficit was helped by continued strength in the export market, which should give second-quarter GDP a boost when revisions are released later this month. The Census Bureau's report said the trade deficit came in at $56.8 billion, compared to the -$62.0 billion ...

Tuesday’s Events: U.S. Trade Balance, Canadian International Trade

Trade data will the highlight of the day for both the U.S. and Canadian economies. The U.S. trade balance will be the subject of scrutiny as the deficit is expected to continue to mushroom despite growing exports. The Canadian trade balance for June is also forecast to rise in the ...

Fed’s Q2 Senior Loan Officer Survey Shows Banks Expect Tighter Credit

U.S. banks are expecting tighter credit conditions throughout the first half of 2009, according to the Federal Reserve's July Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices. The survey showed that 60% of domestic banks... Read More Now

Monday’s Events: Cdn House Prices, Housing Starts; Fed Senior Officer Loans Survey

The Fed's Senior Officer Loans Survey the highlight of the U.S. on Monday. Canadian markets will be paying attention to the releases of housing starts and new house price index. In the evening, the focus will turn to the UK's house price balance and the British Retail Consortium's retail sales ...

Paulson Says No Plans to Inject Capital Into Freddie, Fannie

Speaking in an interview with NBC on Saturday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said government had no plans to inject capital into Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Max despite poor earnings reports from both institutions in the second quarter. Read More Now

The Week Ahead Canada & U.S.: U.S. CPI, Retail Sales and Consumer Sentiment

The U.S. economy will continue to struggle between slowing growth and rising inflation. According to economists and strategists, markets will focus on U.S. advance retail sales, July CPI and the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment. U.S. markets will also receive U.S. trade balance, IBD/TIPP economic optimism, and industrial production and capacity ...

Friday’s Events: Canadian Employment; U.S. Unit Labour Costs & Nonfarm Prod

The Canadian employment report will highlight Friday's economic releases as U.S. markets receive a first look at second-quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labour costs followed by June wholesale inventories. Read More Now

Dollar Continues Broad-Based Climb Against Euro, Majors

The U.S. dollar index is at its highest levels since February, gaining over a point on sheer greenback strength on Friday. Even after the release of a slightly worse-than-expected preliminary second-quarter nonfarm productivity report at 8:30 a.m. EDT, the U.S. dollar index is up 1.074 points to 75.621. It had a ...

Fed Funds Price Out Rate Hikes Following ECB Hold on Rates

Despite a better-than-expected pending home sales report coming out of the U.S. on Thursday, the day's soft jobless claims figures are instead dictating the direction of the Fed fund futures market. Year-end rate hikes are consequently in the midst of being priced out. Markets are pricing in a 62.3% chance that ...

Consumer Credit Rises Above Forecast in June

Consumer debt increased by $14.3 billion in June, according to data released Thursday from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which also showed that total consumer credit had risen to $2.586 trillion from the prior month's $2.572 trillion. Read More Now

Foreclosed Home Sales Likely Driving Up U.S. Pending Home Sales

Economists say the second unexpected rebound in three months in the U.S. pending home sales index is likely due to sales of foreclosed homes. The June report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) defied expectations for a 1.0% decline and rebounded 5.3% in June, following the 4.9% loss of ...

Canadians Top List of Foreign Buyers of U.S. Property, NAR Says

Canadians are flocking to snatch up property in the U.S. as a result of affordable house prices and attractive exchange rates, the National Association of Realtors says. Since May 2007, NAR estimates that between 150,000 and 190,000 homes in the U.S. were bought by foreign nationals. Read More Now

Not-so-Happy Credit Squeeze Milestone

Several television financial correspondents were announcing at the beginning of this week that Monday was the first anniversary of the credit squeeze. It is unclear whether any one day can claim that dubious distinction, but August 2007 was certainly a cruel month. We take a look at where the Credit ...

Citigroup Ordered to Buy Back up to $20 Billion in Auction-Rate Securities

Citigroup could have to take as much as $20 billion in securities from failed auctions on to its balance sheet and will pay a variety of fines and reimbursements in a settlement with U.S. regulators. Citigroup has agreed to buy back all the securities it marketed to individuals and institutions without ...

Pending Home Sales Rebound 5.3% in June

Pending home sales rebounded by 5.3% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), against expectations that the index would fall by 1.0%. The bounce is better than the most optimistic forecasts and follows a downwardly revised 4.9% drop in the prior month. Read More Now

Thursday’s Events: BOE, ECB Rates; CA Building Permits; U.S. Jobless Claims

The Bank of England and the European Central Bank rate decisions are the highlights of the early morning, followed by Canadian building permits, U.S. jobless claims and pending home sales for the United States. In the afternoon, the Treasury department will sell $10 billion in 30-year bonds. Read ...

Initial Jobless Claims are “Useless” Due to Distortion, Economist Says

Claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. rose to their highest level since March 2002 with 455k initial claims reported in the week ending Aug. 2, but economists say new rules that make it easier to file a claim is putting upward pressure on the figures. "The larger than expected rise ...

Options When Facing Foreclosure

Times are tough and now, despite all your efforts, you are behind on your house payments and in fear of impending foreclosure. So what are you to do? Don’t despair yet; there are some options for homeowners who are behind on their mortgage. The most important thing to ...

Preview: Pending Home Sales Index to Slow its Decline in June

The consensus forecast is expecting Thursday's pending home sales index (PHSI) from the National Association of Realtors to fall by 1.0% in June, following a 4.7% decline in the May survey and an unexpected 7.1% rebound in April... Read More Now

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Higher in Week Ending August 1

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States rebounded in the week ending Aug. 1, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 2.8% week-over-week rise in applications... Read More Now

U.S. Treasury Hires Morgan Stanley to Conduct Review of Fannie and Freddie

In a surprise move, the U.S. Treasury announced on Tuesday that it has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to conduct a review of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Morgan Stanley's duties will involve analyzing the GSEs' authority... Read More Now

Freddie Mac Announces Huge Second Quarter Losses

Freddie Mac released its second quarter 2008 financial statements on Wednesday revealing some staggering losses. The nation's second largest mortgage company said that losses in the second quarter totaled $821 million or $1.63 per share compared with a profit of $729 million in the second quarter of 2007. In response to the ...

Wednesday’s Events: Cnd Ivey PMI, DOE Oil Inventories, Tsy Sells 10-Year Notes

The Canadian Ivey PMI and international reserves top the economic news for the region as Americans brace themselves for a ten-year Treasury auction and the Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories. At 7 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association will release mortgage applications for the week ending Aug. 1. In ...

FOMC Holds Target Rate at 2.00%, Says Inflation Outlook “Highly Uncertain”

The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that it would hold the Fed funds target rate at 2.00%, as was widely expected. The accompanying statement was balanced between a concern for slowing growth and elevated inflation levels. In the growth paragraph, the FOMC said "economic activity expanded in the second quarter, partly reflecting ...

Tuesday’s Events: ISM Non-Manufacturing, FOMC Rate Decision

The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index for the United States will be the main morning economic release, however that will be eclipsed by the Fed's interest rate decision at 2:15 p.m. EDT. Read More Now

Elizabeth Duke Sworn in to FOMC Hours Ahead of Rate Decision

Former senior executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TowneBank, Elizabeth Duke, was sworn in as governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday morning and will participate and vote at today's FOMC meeting, the Fed announced. Read More Now

Weekly Retail Sales Soar Y/Y in ICSC-UBS and Redbook Surveys

Retail sales advanced by their biggest margin so far this year, advancing 2.9% on a year-over-year basis in the week ending Aug. 2, according to a weekly survey from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and UBS Securities. Similarly, the Johnson Redbook retail survey recorded a 3.5% gain in ...

FOMC Statement Preview: Economists Looking for Neutral Outlook from the Fed

Economists say the statement to accompany the FOMC's rate decision on Tuesday will continue to strike a neutral balance between the Fed's dual mandates, giving the central bank as much flexibility as possible to continue monitoring data without feeling constrained to raise rates too quickly. Read More Now

Challenger Says Planned U.S. Job Cuts Up 140.8% From Last Year

According to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, planned job cuts rose by 21,557 in July to 103,312, but that figure is still up 140.8% compared to a year ago. In June, planned job cuts fell 21,767 to 81,755. Read More Now

Fed Watch: FOMC’s Window of Opportunity for Rate Hike Now Closed

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is once again expected to leave rates where they are as it continues to assess the extent of recent signs of weakness in the U.S. economy. Julian Jessop of Capital Economics said that given the Fed didn't move on interest rates in June, the ...

Economists Say U.S. PCE Core Deflator Adds to Hawkish View

Economists say the personal income and spending report from the U.S. Department of Commerce posted higher-than- anticipated results for June due to downward revisions to the prior two months. Rising inflation adds to the hawkish viewpoint at the Fed, though it remains universally expected that the Fed will hold rates on ...

Former Fed’s Poole Says Nonfarm Report Was “Marginal Surprise”

The U.S. Employment Report for July's nonfarm payrolls was a "marginal surprise" and weakness in the labour market could keep the Fed on hold for some time, according to former St. Louis Fed Chief William Poole in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. Read More Now

U.S. July Nonfarm Payrolls Decline 51k, Unemployment Rate Up to 5.7%

U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined for the seventh straight month, falling less than expectations by a total of 51k jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. June's decline was revised to a loss of 51k jobs from an initially reported loss of 62k jobs. Read ...

Tax Maven Warns of Problems with New Housing Bill

The Housing Assistance Act of 2008, finally passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush this week, contains some not-to-pleasant surprises for the unwary taxpayer according to an article by Eva Rosenberg published this week in MarketWatch. According to Rosenberg, the bill, which is intended to ...

A Loaf of Bread for Z$200 Billion? Now That’s Inflation

Zimbabwe is the latest example of what happens when inflation spirals out of control to the point of hyperinflation. With the highest rate of inflation in the world - about 2.2 million per cent - Zimbabwe last week issued a Z$100 billion note, though still not enough to buy a ...

Greenspan Says Regulator Role Will Undermine Fed’s Credibility

In an interview on CNBC, Former Federal Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that if the Federal Reserve is given a role to oversee the financial system it could undermine its credibility. Greenspan said the US is facing a "once in a century crisis." He warned that the U.S. teeters on the brink ...

TSY’s Paulson Says Stimulus Has Helped U.S. Economy

Speaking before the Exchequer Club of Washington, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the stimulus package has supported the economy in the last year. Paulson said market turmoil and energy prices have dragged on the economy, while the labor market has softened... Read More Now

Chicago Business Barometer Bounces into Growth, Prices at 28-Year High

The ISM-Chicago business barometer bounced into growth mode in July following five months of slowdown. The growth was led by advances in production and new orders, even as prices hit a 28-year high and employment remained in contraction for the eighth straight month. Read More Now

After Weak U.S. Second-Quarter GDP, Economists Say Worse to Come

Economists say the reported 1.9% GDP growth for the second quarter of 2008 was boosted by a 1.5% increase in consumption and a 2.4% gain in net exports. The figure was lower than expectations, however, as inventories saw a sharp reduction. Aside from the headline, the big news came from revisions ...

GDP Rises 1.9% in Q2, Revisions Include Negative Quarter in Q4 2007

The advance U.S. GDP report came in lower than expected for the second quarter of 2008, rising by 1.9% against expectations of 2.3% growth, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday. Revisions showed the U.S. economy shrank 0.2% in the fourth quarter 2007. The negative figure is the first ...

Freddie Mac Doubles Financial Incentives to Servicers Who Help Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure

Freddie Mac today told mortgage servicers it was doubling the amount of money it pays for each workout that keeps a delinquent borrower with a Freddie Mac-owned mortgage out of foreclosure. Freddie Mac also announced it will start reimbursing servicers for the cost of door-to-door outreach programs, give servicers more time ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Down in Week Ending July 25

Weekly mortgage applications declined in the week ending July 25, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 14.1% week-over-week fall in applications. In the previous week, applications fell 6.2%. Read More Now

Hope Now Alliance Saves 1.9 Million Homes From Foreclosure

Mortgage service providers have staved off the foreclosure of 1.9 million homes in the past year in what has been the largest bailout the housing industry has ever seen, according to Hope Now, the private sector alliance of mortgage service providers, counsellors and investors... Read More Now

Fed to Conduct Liquidity Operations Through January 2009, Introduces 84-Day TAF

In addition to the $75 billion 28-day Term Auction Facility (TAF), the Fed will also be conducting a $25 billion 84-day TAF to address the ongoing "fragility" of the financial system. The Fed also said it would be extending its extraordinary lending to late January 2009. "In light of continued ...

Preview: Second Quarter GDP Expected to Post 2.3% Growth

The consensus forecast expects U.S. GDP growth to come in quite a bit better than the two previous quarters, as exports have surged on the weak dollar and the fiscal stimulus package has provided a boost to consumption. The advance Q2 GDP report is expected to show growth of 2.3% in ...

SEC Extends Rule Limiting Short Selling Until August 12

On Tuesday evening, the Securities and Exchange Commission extended its emergency rule limiting short selling of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and 17 brokerage firms to Aug. 12. "The commission will continue exploring other remedies for the broader marketplace to further protect inventors from distort and short artists," said SEC Chairman ...

New 2008 Highs for Mortgage Rates

Fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) hit the highest levels of 2008 during the week ended July 24 according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. "Market concerns about rising inflation and the greater probability that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise short-term rates this year all combined to push mortgage rates higher this ...

CIBC’s Rubin Sees U.S. Inflation Hitting 6%

Headline inflation in the United States could be headed as high as 6% before the end of the year, CIBC chief economist Jeff Rubin warns in a forecast published Wednesday. "We haven't seen a 6% CPI inflation rate posted in the U.S. since 1990 and even then only briefly for four ...

The Home Equity ATM Machine Slows in First Half of 2008

Whatever else is going on in the housing market, it appears that Americans are no longer using their homes as gigantic credit cards to finance new cars, tuition, and vacations. Freddie Mac's report on cash-out refinancing for the first half of 2008 showed that the number of homeowners taking that option ...

Wednesday’s Events: ADP Employment, Cdn Five-Year Bond Auction, DOE Oil

The ADP employment report will be the most closely looked at economic event of the day ahead of Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls. In Canada, markets will receive industrial product and raw material prices for June followed by an auction of five-year government bonds. Meanwhile, energy traders will be looking at ...

Economist Calls U.S. ADP Employment Report “Grossly Over-Optimistic”

Following the release of the ADP private employment report on Wednesday, which posted a gain of 9k jobs in July, economists dismissed the figures as overly optimistic and predicted they won't be reflected in the BLS nonfarm payrolls survey on Friday. Speaking on CNBC, Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisors and ...

Are Rumors Rather than Reality Feeding Market Behavior?

Is it possible that some of the collapses and near misses in the financial markets over the last six months will ultimately be tied to a few sick and/or greedy people who have used rumors and innuendo to manipulate the market? Government regulators are looking at such a scenario starting ...

U.S. Consumer Confidence Improves to 51.9 in July

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for July improved to 51.9 in Tuesday's report, against expectations of a slight decline to 50.0. Some economists were expecting such an improvement following the upward revisions in the Reuters/U of Michigan sentiment index last week, which bumped up to 61.2 from the preliminary ...

Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index Declines by Record Annual Levels in May

The S&P Case-Shiller U.S. home price index continued to deteriorate in May as the 20-city composite index posted a record annual decline of 15.8%. The Case-Shiller index has fallen every month since peaking in July 2006. The month-over-month decline in home prices was 0.9%, compared to the 1.3% loss in the ...

Tuesday’s Events: U.S. Consumer Confidence, S&P/CS House Prices

Consumer confidence for July and the S&P/Case- Shiller's home price index for May will be the main focus of Tuesday's economic events with no major macroeconomic releases expected for Canada. Across the Atlantic, market participants will also be looking out for preliminary results of German CPI for July. Read More ...

U.S. Treasury Will Borrow Record Amount for Second Fiscal Quarter

The U.S. government plans to issue more debt in the current quarter than any time in history, the Department of Treasury said on Monday. Read More Now

White House Revises 2008, 2009 Budget Deficit

The White House revised its 2008 budget deficit forecast to $389 billion from $410 billion earlier in February and its 2009 forecast to $482 billion from $407 billion, far above the all time record of $413 billion seen in 2004. Read More Now

Paulson Encourages Covered Bond Market to Increase Mortgage Financing

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday that covered bonds are an answer to financial market's request for clarity. He said covered bonds, a $3 trillion market used widely in Europe for mortgage funding, can develop without legislation in the U.S., and four of the largest U.S. banks are already prepared ...

Fed’s Stern Says Credit Crunch to Last Longer, Could Get Worse

In an interview with the Financial Times over the weekend, Minneapolis Fed President Gary Stern (voter) said the credit crunch in the U.S. would last for several more months and conditions could deteriorate further. Read More Now

U.S. Dollar Under Downward Pressure to Start Week

The U.S. dollar was mixed on a quiet day on Monday, making gains solely against the underperforming Canadian dollar and British pound. "The US$ is starting the week off on a weaker note, losing ground against almost all the majors," wrote BMO Capital Markets' Benjamin Reitzes... Read More Now

IMF Global Financial Stability Update Says Markets Remain Fragile

Credit risk remains elevated and appetite for risk remains subdued, though the systemic risk to financial markets is not as elevated as it was in the spring, according to a new market update from the International Monetary Fund. "Global financial markets continue to be fragile and indicators of systemic risk remain ...

U.S. Housing Bill Goes to President’s Desk

In a rare weekend meeting, the U.S. Senate passed the housing bill by 72-13 votes. The legislation now awaits the signature of U.S. President George W. Bush, who could sign it into law as early as this week. The bill would aid over 400,000 mortgage borrowers with the FHA assuming up ...

Final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Reports Surprise Upward Revision

The final consumer sentiment survey from Reuters and the University of Michigan received a large upward revision from preliminary estimates in July, with the headline indicator coming in at 61.2 compared to the preliminary 56.6 level. Read More Now

Foreclosures Spike by 121% from Previous Year, Says Report from RealtyTrac

U.S. home foreclosures soared by 121% in second- quarter year-over-year results, according to a report issued by RealtyTrac. There were 739,714 foreclosure filings in the second quarter of 2008, a 14% quarterly increase. According to RealtyTrac, 48 of 50 states and 95 of 100 of the largest metropolitan areas experienced year-over-year increases ...

New Home Sales Higher than Expected Due to Revisions in May, April

New home sales fell for the seventh of the past eight months in June, falling by 0.6% to an annual pace of 530k sales. This rate is much higher than consensus expectations due to major revisions in the previous two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau on Friday. ...

Revisions Boost New Home Sales, Suggest Stabilization, Economists Say

U.S. new home sales fell marginally in June but the pace was much higher than expected due to +50k of revisions over the past three months. Economists were surprised by the report and said it may be a tentative sign of stabilization, though more data will be needed to confirm ...

Second Quarter Vacancy Rates Slip from Previous Quarter

The U.S National homeowner housing vacancy rate slipped to 2.8% in the second quarter, a 0.1% decline from the previous quarter's 2.9% rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau report released on Thursday. Read More Now

Thousands of Felons Issued Mortgage Licenses in Florida

The Miami Herald's investigative team reported on Sunday that the state has approved over 10,000 mortgage broker licenses for convicted felons since 2000; over 4,000 were issued to individuals who had been convicted of crimes such as fraud, extortion, racketeering, and bank robbery

SEC Chairman Cox Wants More Regulatory Authority Over Investment Banks

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said he needs more authority to have mandatory supervision of investment banks. "Legislative improvements are necessary," said Cox in his opening remarks. "The Commission should be given a statutory mandate to perform this function at the holding company level, along ...

No End in Sight for Housing Market

"The U.S. housing market continues to be very weak, and with the inventory of unsold homes continuing to rise we are unlikely to see any meaningful turnaround in the sector in the near term," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities. The NAR said foreclosures represent one-third to 40% of ...

NY Fed’s Geithner Says Judgment on Regulatory Bill Should Be Held

"The U.S. and global financial systems are going through a very challenging period of adjustment. The critical imperative today is to help facilitate that adjustment and to cushion its impact on the broader economy. The forces that made the system vulnerable to this crisis took a long time to build ...

New York Sues UBS Over Auction Rate Securities

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he is suing UBS AG for misleading investors into buying auction-rate securities just five months before the market collapsed. "Not only is UBS guilty of committing a flagrant breach of trust between the bank and its customers, its top executives jumped ship as soon ...

Existing Home Sales Fall 2.6% to 4.86 Million in June

U.S. existing home sales fell 2.6% to 4.86 million units in June following May's unrevised sales figure of 4.99 million. This is the fourth month home sales have remained under the five million mark, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Read More Now

Soaring U.S. Jobless Claims Viewed as Reliable Indicator of Weak Labour Market

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States soared to 406k in the week ending July 19, the highest level since March, according to the Department of Labor on Thursday. Economists said July data has been volatile, but the latest data is a reliable indicator of weakness in the ...

Thursday’s Events: U.S. Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Fed’s Geithner

U.S. jobless claims and existing home sales will dominate the scheduled events of the day, along with testimony from New York Fed President Timothy Geithner (voter) and SEC Chairman Chris Cox. Meanwhile, European markets will be paying attention to the release of the Belgian business confidence index and comments from ...

Treasury Secretary Paulson Pleased Housing Bill Passed House Quickly

After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a housing bill including provisions for the creation of a new GSE regulator and a liquidity backstop to help the beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson expressed his gratitude for the bill having passed quickly. "As I have said before, ...

U.S. Fed’s Beige Book is Downbeat, But Few Surprises

Economic conditions across the U.S. "slowed somewhat," according to the Fed's Beige Book on Wednesday. Five of the 12 districts were said to have weakened since the last report six weeks ago, while Chicago's economy was "sluggish" and growth in Kansas City had moderated. The remaining three districts saw slight ...

Plosser Says Rate Hike is Inevitable Even if Housing Prices Continue to Fall

Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview, noted hawk Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Chuck Plosser said the Fed may have to hike rates even as housing prices continue to fall. Plosser commented that the economy has not changed much in the last few months and that rising prices pose the biggest challenge ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Down in Week Ending July 18

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States declined in the week ending July 18, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 6.2% week-over-week fall in applications. Read More Now

Treasury’s Paulson Says it Was Easy to Recommend President Sign Housing Bill

Although he is not pleased with some parts of the housing bill, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said it was easy for him to recommend to President George W. Bush to sign a housing rescue package into law on Wednesday. Read More Now

Mortgage Rates Fall in Response to Speculation about Overnight Bank Rates

Rates for both short- and long-term mortgages tumbled last week according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended July 18 on Wednesday. Mortgage activity as measured by the volume of loan applications... ...

Wednesday’s Events: Canadian CPI, DOE Oil, Fed’s Beige Book

Canadian CPI tops the economic news of the day as markets receive the Fed's Beige Book and the Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories. In the afternoon, markets will also be paying attention o the sales of $31 billion in two-year Treasury notes. In the U.S., the Mortgage Bankers Association ...

Fed Discount Meeting Minutes See Fed Majority Take a Wait-and-See Approach

The Federal Reserve Board Discount rate meeting minutes from May 19 and June 23 show that ten out of twelve reserve banks voted to leave the discount rate unchanged. The Dallas Fed and the Kansas Fed requested to have the discount rate increase by 0.25%. Read More Now

Banks, Trade Groups Say that SEC Order Does Not Go Far Enough

Less than a week after Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox invoked the Commission's emergency powers to regulate short selling of certain stocks including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, complaints were surfacing from financial institutions. The complaints were not because those financial institutions were on the list of troubled ...

House Prices Falls Less Than Expected in May, According to OFHEO

U.S. house prices fell 0.3% month-over-month in May following April's 0.8% pullback, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) reported Tuesday. The consensus had been looking for a 0.8% month-over-month pullback in May. "It is very hard to draw conclusions from a one-month number, especially in these uncertain times; but the ...

Tuesday’s Events: OFHEO Housing Index; Fed’s Plosser

Canadian retail sales and employment insurance data tops the economic news for the day as U.S. markets will receive the OFHEO's housing market index, along with the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index and comments from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Philly Fed President Charles Plosser (voter). Read More Now

Fed’s Plosser Calls for a Reversal in Monetary Policy

Inflation in the U.S. is "too high" and inconsistent with the goals of the Federal Reserve, whose accommodative policy must be reversed, said Charles Plosser, President of the Philadelphia Fed, on Tuesday. Plosser, a well-known inflation hawk, said monetary policy is too loose and the Fed will likely have to hike ...

Tsy Secretary Paulson Says Fannie and Freddie Vital to Financial System

Speaking at the New York Public Library, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are vital to the U.S. financial system, and that he remains confident Congress will pass GSE legislation sometime this week. "Because of their size and scope, Fannie and Freddie stability is critical to ...

Treasury’s Ryan Expects GSE Legislation to Pass Soon

Speaking in Boston at the Managed Funds Association Seminar on Sound Practices for Hedge Fund Managers, Acting Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Anthony Ryan said on Monday he expects GSE legislation to be passed soon by Congress. Read More Now

Treasury Secretary Paulson Campaigns for GSE Bailout Plan

Speaking in multiple interviews over the weekend, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson continued to push for his plan to provide an unlimited line of credit to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prevent the institutions from going under. Read More Now

Fed Watch: Bernanke Testimony Focuses on Growth, FOMC Minutes Released

Current Rate: 2.00% Next Rate Decision: Aug. 5 Market Expectations: The OIS implied rate suggests markets are 16% priced in for a 25bp hike at the next meeting and are pricing in a 41% chance of a quarter-point hike at the September meeting. Last week was a fairly busy week for ...

Scotiabank Says Measures Will Not Prevent U.S. Economic Slowdown

According to Scotiabank's Global Outlook released Monday, sharp monetary policy easing, a generous fiscal stimulus package and massive liquidity injections are not sufficient to ward off a deterioration in U.S. economic conditions as the subprime crisis continues to take its toll on the economy and government spending soars to unprecedented ...

Could FDIC also be a “Predatory lender?”

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday morning that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC,) rather than being part of the solution to the subprime mortgage crisis, was actually among those institutions that caused it. Superior Bank was, in the early 2000s, a leading subprime lender and that operation continued, under FDIC ...

The Week Ahead: U.S. Housing Data and Canadian Inflation

According to economists and strategists, the U.S. housing market is going to be the top news in the U.S. Along with new and existing home sales, the Fed beige book and the durable goods report will provide important glimpses into the economy. In Canada, markets will pay attention to retail ...

Bad News is Good News as Market Reacts to Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Earnings

Two Wall Street giants and their investors are betting that one of the Streets most baffling rules of thumb will prevail as the stock market prepared to open Friday after two days of a bullish market. The rule, one that definitely does not apply to your family finances, is if bad ...

Fed’s Stern Says Fed Can’t Wait for End of Crisis to Raise Rates

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Gary Stern (voter) said that the Federal Reserve can't wait for the end of the crisis to raise rates. "I worry about the prospects for inflation, the headline inflation rate is clearly too high," said Stern. Stern noted that the ...

Thursday’s Events: BOC MPC Report, U.S. Jobless Claims, Philly Fed Mfg Report

International securities transactions and the Bank of Canada's monetary policy report highlight today's Canadian economic releases as U.S. markets receive jobless claims and housing starts, followed by the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing report for July. Read More Now

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise to 366K in Week Ending July 12

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States rose much less than expected to 366k in the week ending July 12, following a slightly revised 348k in the previous week. Continuing claims fell back 81k to 3.122 million for the week ending July 5, the Department of Labor reported ...

Fed’s Kroszner Says Fed Rules Will Affect Subprime and Alternative Mortgages

Delivering comments at the FDIC's Minority Depository Institutions National Conference in Chicago, Fed Governor Randall Kroszner said the Fed's new rules on mortgages would alleviate pressures in nearly the entire subprime sector and some other alternative mortgage markets. "At the core of our program, we have implemented a series of web-based ...

U.S. Housing Starts and Building Permits Soar in June

Due to a change in the housing code of New York City, U.S. housing starts came in above expectations at 1066k in June, a month- over-month rise of 9.1%, according to data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday morning. The consensus was looking for a decline to a ...

Preview: Housing Starts Expected to Drop 15k in June

Following a lower-than-expected level of housing starts and permits in the May report, plus a major downward revision in the month before, economists are expecting June's housing starts and permits figures from the Department of Commerce to continue declining. Read More Now

NAHB Builder Confidence Reaches New Historic Low at 16

A report from Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) suggests that homebuilders were even more pessimistic in July as the housing market index fell two points to 16, creating a new historic low in the 22-year index. Read More Now

Higher U.S. CPI, FOMC Minutes Lead to Greater Chance of Rate Hike

Fed fund futures showed a slightly heightened risk of a rate hike in 2008 by the Federal Reserve, following a higher-than- expected CPI print for June on Wednesday. Markets were subsequently forecasting a 44% chance that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) would hold rates at 2.00% at the Dec. 16 meeting. ...

Fed Minutes Say Next Move Could Be Higher Funds Rate

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) June 24-25 meeting show that FOMC Board Members agreed upside risks to inflation had increased and generally agreed downside risks to growth had diminished. Most members thought the current 2.00% target rate was appropriate but that risks to inflation may initiate ...

U.S. June Core CPI Up 0.3% as Total Inflation Surges 1.1%

The seasonally adjusted U.S. Consumer Price Index rose more than expected on both fronts, as the core rate ticked up 0.3% (0.323%) in June, contributing to a 2.4% year-over-year change, and total inflation rose 1.1% (1.056%) in the month and 5.0% on the year, according to data released by the ...

Despite Market Turmoil, Mortgage Rates Remain Becalmed

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending July 10, there was little change in either short or long term mortgage rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association released this week's figures Wednesday morning. MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended July 11 reported that... ...

Wednesday’s Events: Bernanke Part II, U.S. CPI, DOE Oil, Cnd Mfg Shipments

Another action-packed day follows Tuesday's excitement as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers the second of his two- day annual testimony, this time to the House of Representatives. In terms of data, markets will receive Canadian manufacturing shipments along with U.S. CPI and industrial production figures followed by the all important weekly ...

U.S. President Bush Asks Congress to Do More

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Bernanke Says Housing Crisis is Central Issue to Economy

In a question and answer session with the Senate Banking Committee at the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central issue in the U.S. economy is the housing market. Read More Now

Tuesday’s Events: Bernanke’s Semi-Annual Testimony, PPI

The Bank of Canada's rate decision and semi-annual testimony from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke are the main events of what is looking to be an action-packed Tuesday. Markets will also be treated to the Canadian new motor vehicle sales, U.S. PPI and the Empire Fed's manufacturing index. ...

Paulson Says GSEs Need a Strong Regulator

Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee as part of the Humphrey- Hawkins testimony, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) need a strong regulator. "Market stability and support for housing finance are among my highest priorities during this time of stress in our markets. Therefore, after consultations with the Federal Reserve, ...

June All-Items PPI Soars 1.8%, Core Contained at 0.2%

The U.S. Labor Department's seasonally-adjusted core measure of producer price inflation grew at 0.2% month-over-month in June, the same pace as the previous month, while the headline measure moved up by 1.8%, four-tenths higher than consensus. From a year ago, the core measure of producer price inflation was up 3.0%, two-tenths ...

Economists Call Core Inflation ‘Tame’ Despite Soaring Energy Prices

Economists say the main story in June's producer price index is that core prices, which exclude food and energy, remain contained despite soaring costs from energy driving up the headline index. The U.S. Labor Department's seasonally adjusted core measure of producer prices rose by 0.2% in June, lower than the ...

Bold, Creative, Aggressive Policy Action Needed for GSEs to Survive

Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at Global Insight, said "Bold, creative, aggressive policy action is needed for the GSEs to survive in their current capacity as private entities, and it is needed now." He called the capitalization-crisis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a "potentially dangerous turn of events ...

Bernanke says U.S. Economy is Facing Numerous Challenges

Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee at the semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy is facing numerous difficulties. "The U.S. economy and financial system have confronted some significant challenges thus far in 2008.The contraction in housing activity that began in 2006 and the associated ...

Bernanke Expected to Focus on Inflation at Semi-Annual Testimony

A hawkish testimony and mostly unchanged rhetoric are expected from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday, as the head of the U.S. central bank delivers the first of a two-day semiannual testimony to congress. "In the US, all eyes will be on Ben Bernanke as he appears before Congress on Tuesday ...

Paulson and Bernanke Come to the Rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The U.S. government flew to the rescue of GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the weekend with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announcing that the government would increase the failing bond insurers' line of credit, have the temporary ability to purchase equity and that the Fed would be available to ...

Action-Packed Week for U.S. and Canadian Markets

According to strategists and economists, markets will be looking for some direction next week with the release of major economic reports. In the U.S., markets will receive PPI, CPI, retail sales, FOMC minutes and regional manufacturing reports on top of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying before Congress and the Senate. ...

Regulators Hasten to Assure Depositors that their Money is Secure as IndyMac is put into Receivership

Federal regulators and Bush Administration officials spent the weekend reassuring bank depositors nationwide that their deposits are secure and, as the ads say, insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The public information campaign was launched to quiet fears that were stoked by the failure of California-based IndyMac late Friday. ...

Fed is Moving into Consumer Protection Role on Mortgages

Speaking at the Federal Reserve open meeting on mortgage rules, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the new rules will be aimed at protecting consumers from deceptive practices. Bernanke said that the new rules would apply to all mortgage lenders, as delinquencies and foreclosures continue to grow rapidly. Bernanke pointed to ...

Preview: Inflation Focus at Bernanke’s Semi-Annual Testimony, Say Experts

A hawkish testimony and mostly unchanged rhetoric are expected from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday, as the head of the U.S. central bank delivers the first of a two-day semiannual testimony to congress. "In the US, all eyes will be on Ben Bernanke as he appears before Congress on Tuesday ...

Treasury’s Paulson Says Goal Is to Back Fannie & Freddie in “Current Form”

Releasing a statement on Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the focus was to back Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "in their current form". Paulson added that the Treasury Department was continuing its dialogue with regulators and firms. Stocks are under pressure as stocks from Fannie Mae and Freddie ...

U.S. Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Shrinks to -$59.8 Billion

The U.S. monthly trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in May to -$59.8 billion, with April's deficit figure downwardly revised to - $60.5 billion from a previously reported -$60.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday. Read More Now

Friday’s Events: Canadian Employment Report, U.S. & Canadian Trade Data

The Canadian employment report kicks off Friday's events followed by the release of the new housing price index and international securities transactions for May, as U.S. markets prepare for the trade balance, import prices index and the preliminary Michigan sentiment report for July. Read More Now

U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentument Rebounds for First Time Since January

The preliminary consumer sentiment survey from Reuters and the University of Michigan rebounded for the first time since January, reaching a score of 56.6 in July from June's reading of 56.4. The consensus was expecting a further decline to 55.5. According to the report, 90% of respondents said they thought the U.S. ...

Government Considering a Fannie Freddie Takeover

For the third day this week the stocks of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae took a hammerin' on Wall Street and for the second day major newspapers are speculating on their survival as independent companies. On Friday The New York Times and Barons both reported that the two government sponsored enterprises ...

U.S. Foreclosure Rates Decline in June, Says Realtytrac

According to Realtytrac's most recent survey, foreclosures in the United States are down 3.0% in June compared to the previous month's levels, but up 53% from the previous year. Read More Now

Bernanke Calls for Consolidated Supervision of Banks

Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Service, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called for the consolidated supervision of investment banks and the creation of a tool to liquidate failed financial firms. Read More Now

Thursday’s Events: U.S. Jobless Claims, Fed’s Yellen, ECB’s Trichet

The release of U.S. jobless claims and comments from Fed's Yellen (non- voter) will top the North American data releases. Markets will also be paying attention to comments from European Central Bank President Trichet in the afternoon. Read More Now

U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 346K in Week Ending July 5

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States fell to 346k in the week ending July 5, following an unrevised 404k in the previous week. Continuing claims rose to 3.202 million for the week ending June 28, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Read More Now

Paulson Says Firms Should Be Allowed to Fail

Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said financial firms must be allowed to fail. "It is clear that some institutions, if they fail, can have a systemic impact. Looking beyond immediate market challenges, last week I laid out my proposals for creating a resolution ...

Ex-Fed President Says Fannie and Freddie ‘Insolvent’

The U.S. officials may need to bail out the two government-sponsored enterprises responsible for insuring mortgages, a former Federal Reserve president said. William Poole, who stepped down as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis three months ago, called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "insolvent." Read More Now

Are Freddie and Fannie Insolvent?

Financial news outlet CNBC was reporting early Thursday that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two corporations around which much of housing recovery has been structured, may be technically insolvent. The claim came from William Poole, former president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Poole told Bloomberg News that Congress should ...

Fed Funds Shift Slightly, Still Maintain Rate Hike Likely

Following a recent string of soft data, Fed fund futures traders walked a fine line on Wednesday between preaching long-term patience on the part of the Federal Reserve and anticipating immediate inflationary help. Markets were pricing in an 86.2% chance the Fed will keep the target rate at 2.00% at the ...

Former Fed Official Calls for Abandoning Focus on Core Inflation in Medium-Term

Elevated food prices are caused by increased global demand that shows no signs of letting up, and monetary policy should stop excluding food prices and begin to focus on total, rather than core, inflation, wrote a former official from the Federal Reserve. "With respect to monetary policy, the U.S. Federal Reserve ...

MBA Mortgage Applications Move Higher in Week Ending July 4

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States moved higher in the week ending July 4, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 7.5% week-over-week rise in applications. In the previous week, applications rose by 3.6%... Read More Now

Fed Report on Inflation Prompts Moderation in Interest Rates

Mortgage interest rates dropped slightly during the week ended July 3 according to results of the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) eased back from the 6.45 percent with 0.6 point that it had averaged for the week ended July 26 to 6.35 percent ...

IndyMac Faces Bank “Run”

After announcing on Monday that it would shutter its mortgage lending operations but continue business as a retail bank, IndyMac was hit on Tuesday by a potentially fatal blow to that part of its business as well. Bank depositors rushed to withdraw money from the bank... Read More Now

Wednesday’s Events: DOE Crude Oil, Mortgage Applications

U.S. crude oil inventories will top the U.S. economic data releases of the day along with Canadian building permits for June. In Europe, markets will hear commentary from European Central Banker Orodnez, and Australians will hear comments from Governor Stevens. Kicking off the day, at 7 a.m. EDT, the U.S. ...

Inflation Concerns Rise Among U.S. Small Business Owners in June

Inflation has become the number one concern among small business owners, according to the National Federation of Independent Business Index of Small Business Optimism released on Tuesday. Read More Now

Treasury’s Paulson Says Fresh Capital Will Strengthen GSEs

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he is pleased Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are committed to raising more capital this spring, calling reform of the government-sponsored enterprises the best way to combat foreclosures. Read More Now

Fed’s Lacker Sees Economic Growth Accelerating in 2009

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker (non-voter) said economic growth should pick up next year and that withdrawing the fiscal stimulus as growth risks fade makes "eminent sense". Speaking at the National Economics Club of Washington, D.C., Lacker said the inflation outlook has "deteriorated", but that the Fed should still remain ...

Expect Pending Home Sales to Keep Falling, Economists Say

The 4.7% decline in U.S. pending home sales in May shows that the previous month's gain was not a true sign of stabilization, economists said after a release the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday. Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at Global Insight, called the report "disappointing," noting that a lot of ...

U.S. May Wholesale Inventories Just Above Forecasts

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.8% month-over-month in May, marginally above expectations for a 0.7% advance, while the previous month's figure was revised to a 1.4% gain from a previously reported 1.3% rise, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Commerce. Read More Now

IndyMac Joins Roster of Banks to Fold its Mortgage “Tent.”

IndyMac has announced that, effective yesterday, it is closing both its wholesale and retail production channel and will no longer accept any new mortgage loan submission or rate locks. It will also reduce its workforce to around 3,200 from the current level of 7,400. The bank will also, apparently, continue ...

U.S. Pending Home Sales Fall 4.7% in May

U.S. pending home sales resumed their decline in May, falling 4.7% in the month after an upwardly revised 7.1% bounce in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. April's rebound was originally reported as a 6.3% gain. The consensus was expecting the PHSI to fall by 2.5% in the month, ...

Bernanke Says Fed May Extend Lending Access to 2009

Federal Reserve Chairman en Bernanke said the Federal Reserve may extend Wall Street's access to lending until 2009. Speaking at the FDIC's forum on mortgage lending in Arlington, Virginia, Bernanke did not speak on economic outlook or monetary policy, but he did say Congress may have to heighten its oversight ...

Battered GSE Stocks Recover Slightly in Early Tuesday Trading

Shares of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were looking a little better in early trading on Tuesday after investors fled the two government sponsored entities (GSEs) the previous day over doubts that their underlying capital could make it more difficult for them to buy or guarantee mortgages. That, in turn, ...

Tuesday’s Events.: Bernanke & Lacker Speak, U.S. Pending Home Sales

High-profile speakers will take centre stage on Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak in Arlington, Virginia at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Mortgage Lending for Low- and Moderate Income Households forum. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker is also slated to speak to the National Economists Club ...

SEC and Federal Reserve Agree to Improve Information Sharing

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve agreed on an information-sharing pact on Monday, which aims to better detect potential risks to the financial system. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson released a brief statement saying the memorandum "is consistent with the long-term vision of Treasury's Blueprint for a Modernized ...

Fed’s Yellen Says Markets “May Get Worse Before They Get Better”

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen said Monday market conditions "could get worse before they get better", but that she expects market functioning to "improve markedly" by 2009. Read More Now

The Week Ahead

This week will begin with a number of Federal Reserve speakers and see the release of housing data in both Canada and the U.S. on Wednesday. The relatively quiet week will culminate on Friday with Canada's employment report for June, which is expected to be a key market focus. ...

Economists Divided on Direction of Economy, Inflation

With the second half of the year just beginning, economists are questioning if the worst of the U.S. downturn is already over, or whether uncertainty about rising prices spells more gloom and doom for the economy. While there is pressure for the Fed to combat inflation, the central bank remains constrained ...

Improve Business By Becoming Green Certified

There are dozens of ways of plugging in to what is now the hottest trend going, the movement toward energy efficient and sustainable living. But here are a few that could very profitable. Look into Green Certification This is a growing field and, at present, is unregulated but there are a few ...

American Cities See Record Annual Foreclosure Rate Increases in Q2

Record high foreclosure rates in the second quarter were reported in Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami and New York, according to a report issued by PropertyShark.com. Los Angeles led the four cities with a 282.01% increase in the second quarter compared to last year's Q2. Los Angeles reported a record... ...

U.S. June Nonfarm Payrolls Decline 62k, Unemployment Rate Remains at 5.5%

U.S. nonfarm payrolls declined for the sixth straight month, falling in line with expectations by a total of 62k jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday. May's jobs figure was revised to a loss of 62k jobs from an initially reported loss of 49k jobs. The ...

Fed’s Mishkin Says Fed Wants to Contain Inflation Expectations

Speaking at a conference in Israel, Federal Reserve board Governor Frederic Mishkin said he currently sees an "upside risk" to inflation expectations and that the Fed wants to contain those expectations. "U.S. inflation has risen recently, largely because of these sharp increases in global commodity prices. However, thus far, the ...

Central Bank Watch: Market Attention Shifts to ECB - Finally Time to Hike?

After last week's highly-anticipated Federal Reserve rate decision, in which rates were expectedly left on hold, markets have shifted their attention to the upcoming European Central Bank rate decision on Thursday. Read More Now

Mortgage Rates Mark Time Waiting for Federal Action

Mortgage rates continued to set record 2008 levels with long term rates moving up slightly during the week ended June 26, and short term rates increasing modestly but in double digits. Mortgage applications increased 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and... Read More Now

Wednesday’s Events: U.S. Employment Data Ahead of Nonfarm Payrolls Thursday

Employment data from the United States and the Department of Energy's weekly inventories report will highlight the North American data on Wednesday as markets prepare for U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Thursday. In the afternoon, markets will also be paying attention to comments from Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin. Read ...

After ADP, Markets Expect Lower Consensus for Nonfarm Payrolls

Economists appear to be unanimous in their calls for increased downside risk to Thursday's BLS nonfarm payrolls report, following a weaker-than-expected ADP private employment report for June. ADP figures showed a decline of 79k jobs in the month against expectations of only a 20k loss following three months of upside ...

Will Lehman Brothers Survive Another Round of Rumors?

Rumors were swirling about another major Wall Street player on Monday as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. stock fell 11 percent. The stock reached the lowest level it had seen since 2000 as the Street's second smallest Wall Street firm was the subject of speculation that it was in trouble and, like ...

CIT Group Sells Off its Last Home Related Business Interests

CIT Group announced on Monday that it was selling both its home lending business and its manufactured- housing division. The lending business which has total assets of $9.3 billion as well as servicing operations will go to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion. In addition, Lone Star will assume $4.4 billion in ...

U. S. Construction Spending Drops Further in May

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, construction spending in the United States declined 0.4% month-over-month in May. Residential construction fell by 1.6%, unchanged from April's 1.6 % decrease, while non-residential construction gained 0.3% after rising 0.8 % in the previous month. The report also noted ...

Tuesday Events: U.S. Retail Sales, U.S. Construction Spending, US ISM Index

Today's key economic release will be the ISM manufacturing index for June where economists expect a drop to 48.5 from May's 49.6 reading. Canadian markets will be closed to observe Canada Day. At 7:45 a.m. EDT, ICSC will release its retail sales figures for the week ending June 28. In the ...

MICA Reports Continued Problems for U.S. Homeowners

Nearly 68,000 American homeowners with mortgage insurance fell more than 60 days behind on their loans in May, outnumbering the 40,687 people who cured their situation in the month, according to a release from the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) on Monday. This is the 26th month in a row ...

ISM Manufacturing Halts Four Months of Declines, Rebounds to 50.2

The U.S. manufacturing sector halted a four-month trend of deterioration and rebounded into growth mode at 50.2 in June, against expectations of a decline to 48.5, according to the ISM manufacturing survey released on Tuesday morning. Despite the headline advance, prices moved up to the highest level since July 1979, ...

MBA Says Home Construction Loan Delinquency Rate Misleading

Constructions loans for single and multi family projects in the United States are incorrectly included in commercial real estate delinquency reports, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's most recent Commercial/Multifamily Research DataNote. According to the report, combining commercial real estate loans with construction projects destined for family dwellings greatly inflates the ...

Treasury’s Paulson Says Fed’s Role Must be as a Stabilizer

Speaking to journalists en route to Berlin, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that his speech on July 2 will focus on the Federal Reserve's role as a macro stability regulator. Paulson said that speech will focus on the Federal Reserve's process for intervening in financial affairs and that any intervention by ...

Is Any Company Safe from Subprime Related Lawsuits?

...He cites as examples appraisers, "fee hungry" mortgage brokers, and real estate agents who participated in putting home buyers into subprime mortgages they could not afford. There may also be, as Lenckus puts it, an unknown number of "widget manufacturers" which bought various mortgage- backed financial instruments as investments that ...

Chicago Business Barometer Approaches Growth Levels at 49.6 in June

The ISM-Chicago business barometer remained below 50 for the fifth consecutive month in June, yet improved more than expected, coming in at 49.6, against expectations that it would fall to 48.0 from 49.1 in May. "The threat of an economic recession spreading from the housing and credit sectors has yet to ...

Monday’s Events: Canadian GDP, ISM Chicago PMI, ECB’s Constancio

Canadian GDP and the ISM-Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index will highlight the start of what is looking to be a busy shortened week on the North American data front. In the afternoon, comments from Portuguese Central Banker Vitor-Manuel Ribeiro Constancio will also be closely watched ahead of the European Central Bank's ...

Dallas Fed Mfg Index Declines in June

Texas business activity declined further in June according to the Dallas Fed's manufacturing report on Monday, whose business activity index fell to -24.1 from May's -10.3. "Several indicators for current conditions declined from May levels and turned negative," read the report. "Despite June's slowdown, more than a third of manufacturers responding ...

May PCE Core Deflator Rises Lower-Than-Expected at 0.1%

The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) core deflator, advanced by 0.1% (0.113%) in May, below expectations and contributing to a year-over- year change of 2.1% (2.139%), according to a report released from the Commerce Department on Friday morning. Read More Now

Fed Minutes Says Bear Stearns Actions, Primary Lending Facility Necessary

In the minutes released from a meeting of Fed Governors to approve Bear Stearns' acquisition by JPMorgan and the establishment of a lending facility to primary lenders on March 14 and 16, the Fed reaffirmed that the moves were "based on recent, rapidly changing developments." Read More Now

Friday’s Events: U.S. Core PCE, Personal Income and Spending, Cnd IPPI & RPI

U.S. core PCE, personal income and spending, and final data from the Michigan consumer sentiment survey will finish off the U.S. economic data week as Canadians receive industrial product and raw material prices along with average payroll earnings. Overseas, markets will be looking at the preliminary figures for German CPI ...

Thursday’s Events: Final US Q1 GDP, Initial Jobless Claims, U.S. Existing Home Sales

A final look at U.S. first quarter GDP and initial jobless claims will be the key releases of the morning followed by the releasing of U.S. existing home sales. Europeans will be paying attention to comments from J

U.S. Existing Home Sales Rise 2.0% to 4.99 Million in May

U.S. existing home sales rose to 4.99 million units in May, or 2.0%, following April's unrevised sales figure of 4.89 million. This is the third month that home sales have remained under the 5 million mark. Economists were expecting the May data to rise to 4.95 million, or 1.2%, following the ...

Condo Sales Main Driver of 2.0% Rise in U.S. Existing Home Sales

Condominium sales were the main driver of the 2.0% rise in existing home sales in May, which came in higher than the 1.2% gain expected by economists. Condo sales rose 5.5% in May, more than reversing the 5.2% monthly drop in April, while single family home sales rose 1.6% in the ...

Fed Creates Two New Entities for Risk Management and Communication

The New York Fed created two new entities on Thursday in an effort to improve the bank's risk management and communications among regional and community banks. The Communications Group "was created in recognition of the increasing roles and responsibilities of the communications and regional and community affairs area in the Bank... ...

And Yet the Sale of Countrywide is Going to Happen

The sale of Countrywide Mortgage to Bank of America absorbed another blow this week as three states took legal action against the lender. The attorneys general of California and Illinois and the Washington State department that regulates financial institutions all filed lawsuits against Countrywide on Tuesday alleging variations on the theme ...

Soaring Gas Price Will Push Millions Off the Road, Says CIBC Report

Soaring world oil prices will drive the cost of gasoline in the U.S. into the stratosphere over the next two years, forcing many Americans off the road and drastically altering the driving habits of millions more, according to a report released Thursday by CIBC World Markets. American driving habits will have ...

Higher Jobless Claims Data Indicate Job Market Deterioration, Economists Say

Economists say the higher-than-expected initial jobless claims reading for the week ending June 21 and four-year high reached in continuing claims illustrates the continued deterioration of the U.S. labour market. "Three straight weeks of claims in the mid-380s is not good news; this is recession territory," said Ian Shepherdson, Chief U.S. ...

FOMC Holds Target Rate at 2.00%, Cites Uncertainty in Inflation Outlook

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would hold the Fed funds target rate at 2.00%, as was widely expected. The accompanying statement was balanced between a concern for slowing growth and rising uncertainty in inflation. In the statement, the Fed said "overall economic activity continues to expand, partly reflecting some ...

Durable Goods Excluding Transport Falls in Line with Expectations in May

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

Mortgage Rates Continue to Set New 2008 Records, Applications Fall

Fixed-rate mortgage interest increased again during the week ended June 19 according to results from the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) jumped from 6.32 percent to 6.42 percent with fees and points... Read More Now

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

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

MBA Mortgage Applications Decline in Week Ending June 20

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 ...

New Homes Sales Continue to Fall, Down 2.5% in May

After five months of declines in the pace of new home sales, April's uptick appears to have been temporary as new home sales in the U.S. continued to fall back 2.5% down in May, declining to 512k, in line with expectations from economists. This follows an upwardly revised reading of 525k ...

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

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

Tuesday’s Events: Case-Shiller and OFHEO Home Prices, Rich. Fed Mfg, Alan Greenspan

The S&P/Case Shiller house price index, data from the OFHEO and the Richmond Fed's manufacturing report will highlight the U.S. economic releases as Canadian markets receive employment insurance data and comments from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Read More Now

Consumer Confidence Plummets to Lowest Level Since 1992

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

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... ...

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

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 ...

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

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

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 ...