Anne Gives Back

From AnneFerris

Last week was packed with economic data and most of it pointed to an economy that is in need of a third round of stimulus. Thursday saw manufacturing in both the Empire State and the Philly Fed drop further into contraction. We also had another rise in jobless claims as the index gained 11,000 to 428 K. The problem the Fed will have in trying to argue for more stimululs is that the Consumer Price index showed inflation at the core level that pushed the index to the upper levels of the Feds target growth of 1.5% to 2.0%. The fear will be that is we pump more money into the economy it could jump start inflation. We need slow sustainable growth in order to fully recover.

This week will be on the light side for economic data but between the President trying to implement a plan to create jobs and the financial crisis in Europe, we should have plenty of movement in the markets. We will get a good look at the housing market starting on Monday with the Housing Market Index. The index is a measure of the general economy and housing market conditions according to the National Homebuilders association. The index has been very low for the last several months. Tuesday has Housing Starts and Wednesday rounds out the housing data with Existing Home Sales. Also on Wednesday is the FOMC meeting announcemnt where most analyst feel that the Fed will leave the Fed funds rate at its current level. Thursday will be the last day of the week with data and it will ahve the Jobless Claims report and leading indicators.

As you can see it will be a slow week for economic data but by the end of Wednesday we will have a good idea on the state of the housing market. We will be watching the President as he tries to get congress to pass his new jobs plan and keeping an eye on the financial struggles of Europe.

Have a great week and give me a call anytime to discuss the current status of the mortgage market!