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 ...