Continue reading Consumer Confidence Hits Three-Month Low

Consumer Confidence Hits Three-Month Low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quarterly reports from Oracle (ORCL), Discover (DFS) and Tiffany (TIF) will highlight news on the earnings front this week.

Elsewhere on the economic calendar, the focus will be on housing, with existing home sales data due from the National Association of Realtors on Monday, new home sales numbers from the Census Bureau on Wednesday and data on housing starts released on Thursday.

Also watch for durable goods orders in February and the final GDP for the fourth quarter.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Housing Data and Late Season Earnings (ORCL, DFS, TIF)

Week in Preview: Housing Data and Late Season Earnings (ORCL, DFS, TIF) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Women Top the Home Foreclosure List: Here's What to Do

Women Top the Home Foreclosure List: Here's What to Do originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The housing market got a bit of bad news Monday morning, with pending home sales falling faster than expected in January.

Consumer confidence has been on the rise over the past couple of months, but that boost in confidence did not carry over to pending home sales, which were down 2.8% during the month of January.

Continue reading Pending Home Sales Down in January

Pending Home Sales Down in January originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Dow broke 12,000 today. What's next? Again we have those who say the glass is half full and those who say it is half empty.

Traders believe that the glass is half full. Dow 12,000 is only a number, although a psychological number. Round numbers catch the public's attention. There will be sellers screaming 'get me out' if they have recouped their losses. The market probably will absorb the half empty guys and march upward. That may not be a straight line, but the momentum is strong enough to push higher.

Continue reading Dow 12,000 -- What's Next?

Dow 12,000 -- What's Next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With earnings season in full swing, the FOMC meeting on interest rates, the GDP estimate, and housing numbers due out, the coming week is shaping up to be a busy one. So here's a peek at what's on the economic calendar.

Monday

Quarterly reports from American Express (AXP) and McDonald's (MCD) will highlight Monday. Amgen (AMGN), CSX (CSX), Halliburton (HAL) and Texas Instruments (TXN) are also expected to report strong earnings results.

Continue reading Week in Preview: GDP, FOMC Meeting, Housing Data and Lots of Earnings

Week in Preview: GDP, FOMC Meeting, Housing Data and Lots of Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In my new book, The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for an Era of Slow Growth and Deflation, I discuss nine reasons for slow U.S. economic growth and real GDP gains of about 2% annually in the long run.

1. U.S. consumers will shift from a 25-year borrowing-and-spending binge to a saving spree. This will spread abroad as American consumers curtail the imports of the goods and services many foreign nations depend on for economic growth.

Continue reading Nine Reasons for Slow U.S. Economic Growth

Nine Reasons for Slow U.S. Economic Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite talk all year long that the housing market was stabilizing and that it had reached bottom, home values in the U.S. have fallen $1.7 trillion in 2010, real estate website Zillow announced Thursday. Zillow's 2010 estimate is 63% higher than the $1 trillion drop it estimated in 2009, CNNMoney reported.

The first time home-buyer credit ended up to be just a blip in the overall price declines, demonstrating that market forces are more powerful than temporary fixes.

Continue reading Home Values Plunged $1.7 Trillion in 2010

Home Values Plunged $1.7 Trillion in 2010 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A frequent question voiced in dinner party circles in this neck of the woods (the metropolitan New York City area) is, 'Is now a good time to consider buying or investing in a home?'

Well, the latest S&P Case Shiller home price index suggests that home prices are likely to remaining sluggish -- selected, niche market gains, with flattish prices in most other markets -- through at least mid-2011. Hence, from a home price standpoint, the bias in tipped toward waiting a quarter or two, if you do not have to purchase a home.

Continue reading Is Now a Good Time to Invest in a Home?

Is Now a Good Time to Invest in a Home? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Standard & Poor's (S&P) Case-Shiller home price index, home prices are falling faster in the nation's largest cities.

The index dropped 0.6% in September compared to August (some are reporting 0.7%), with 18 of the cities recording monthly price declines. The largest drop was reported in Cleveland, Ohio, which saw prices drop 3% compared to a month earlier. The only two cities where prices increased were Washington DC (thanks mainly to government spending) and Las Vegas (which has been battered in recent reports).

Continue reading Case-Shiller Index Data Shows Home Prices Are Falling

Case-Shiller Index Data Shows Home Prices Are Falling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With mortgage refinancing applications up recently and house prices on the rise in recent months, some might believe there is reason to be optimistic about the struggling housing sector. I don't subscribe to this belief. Instead, I look for delinquencies and foreclosures to spike in the slow economic growth, high unemployment quarters that probably lie ahead.

Already, real estate owned (REO) by lenders due to foreclosures -- perhaps the most hated term among bankers -- is climbing. Estimates are that a major share of the 7 million houses that have delinquent mortgages or are in some stage of foreclosure, as well as those yet to come, will be dumped on the market, adding to the already huge excessive inventory glut. Some 4.5 million loans are now in foreclosure or at least 90 days delinquent.

Continue reading Housing Woes Not Nearing an End

Housing Woes Not Nearing an End originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hopes for Housing -- Squashed

Hopes for Housing -- Squashed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Low

Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Beazer Homes Reports 4Q Loss

Beazer Homes Reports 4Q Loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors, understandably, have taken a skeptical stance toward the U.S. housing sector. Moreover, given the debacle known as the 2007-2009 bursting of the U.S. housing bubble, it's normal for even typical, prospective home owners to doubt if this once fairly-reliable asset class will return to normal appreciation rates of 4% to 7% per year.

Further, the above begs the question: should the nation and Americans continue to rely on the housing sector as an engine of growth? Or is the nation better-served if tax breaks, such as the longstanding home mortgage interest deduction, are shifted to other sectors/investments?

Continue reading Can the U.S. Housing Sector Remain a Growth Engine?

Can the U.S. Housing Sector Remain a Growth Engine? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Mixed Bag on Housing: Starts Up, Permits Down

Mixed Bag on Housing: Starts Up, Permits Down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: The Fed Is All That Counts (CAG, NOK, VVUS)

Closing Bell: The Fed Is All That Counts (CAG, NOK, VVUS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Housing steps into the spotlight again this coming week. The release of the National Association of Homebuilders Housing Market Index starts out the week on Monday morning. Then on Tuesday morning, look for housing starts data from August. Release of the July FHFA House Price Index is scheduled for Wednesday. And numbers for existing home sales and for new home sales in August are due out Thursday and Friday, respectively. Overall, the housing market is expected to have continued to lose momentum in August, but less dramatically than in July.

Also on the economic calendar this week: Tuesday's FOMC meeting on interest rates, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index for August on Thursday, initial jobless claims for last week, and durable goods orders data for August on Friday. No significant changes from the Fed are anticipated, but the leading economic indicators may rise a bit.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Housing Data, Lennar's Earnings and More

The Week in Preview: Housing Data, Lennar's Earnings and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Oil Prices Head Higher Despite Bearish Inventory Report

Oil Prices Head Higher Despite Bearish Inventory Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading How Low Will U.S. Mortgage Rates Go?

How Low Will U.S. Mortgage Rates Go? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.