Posts from ‘December, 2009’

Stocks held modest losses into the final hour on little real news. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index gained a larger than expected 3.9 points to 60 in December. There has been a great deal of debate regarding the Christmas Eve announcement that the Fed would remove the capital limits placed on Fannie Mae and Freddie [...]

Stocks entered the final hour mixed on generally positive news. The October Case/Schiller housing price index increased for a 5th consecutive month following a gain of .4%. On an annualized basis prices remain 7.3% lower for the 20-city Index. Some notable standouts include San Francisco with a 1.2% gain for the month, while Chicago at [...]

There is little economic data today but we do have a couple of good examples of what’s wrong with the government and the media while picking up some historical background on the current crises. First up is a piece written by Zach Carter for the nation where he talks about John Dugan, refereeing to him [...]

Stocks managed modest gains into the final hour on mixed economic data. The latest Mortgage Activity Index fell 10.7% to 595.8, purchase apps slipped 11.6% and refi’s dropped 10.1%, the 30-year contract rate was unchanged at 4.92%. Unlike Existing Home sales that gained nicely, New Home sales plunged 11.3% in November reflecting the expiration of [...]

Stocks moved sharply higher from the open and enter the final hour with modest gains on mixed data. Buyers rushing to beat the expiration of the first time homebuyer tax credit pushed home sales up 7.4% in November, inventory fell to 6.5 months supply while the median price increased .8%to $175,600. Over the next few [...]

While it is generally accepted that we have the best politicians money can buy and that who you know is much more important than what you know. Another long suspected unhealthy relationship, generally accepted as true but never proven. Meaning the revolving door between big business, particularly the finance sector, and big government. We now [...]

Technical issues have been resolved, they are now working again. Thanks for your patience. Caleb Lawrence

Stocks rose sharply to begin the week on little real news. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index improved dramatically to -.32 pulling the 3-month average up to -.77 just below the recessionary threshold of -.7, a figure that has accurately predicted 6 of the last 7 recessions. A report from the OCC and OTS shows [...]

Stocks struggled to close the week with the DOW essentially unchanged into the final hour while the NASDAQ is up some 1%. Since Monday the DOW has lost about 160 points or roughly 1.5% while the NASDAQ looks to end a second consecutive week effectively unchanged as the index hasn’t really gone anywhere since December [...]

Mixed economic data sent stock into the final hour holding modest losses. The Conference Boards Index of Leading economic indicators, like the ECRI weekly leading index says don’t worry be happy as the economic recovery has a strong foothold following a gain of .9% in October. Unfortunately both of these indexes are heavily skewed by [...]