9/2/09

Market news was all over the place yesterday. Construction Spending was down in July, and year-over-year spending is down 10.5%. We also had the National Association of Realtors report that Pending Home Sales were up 3.2%, more than forecast, and once again attributed to lower rates, less expensive houses, and the tax credit (which expires around Thanksgiving).
Today we have Factory Orders and the FOMC Minutes. Already this morning we had the ADP employment numbers (which don’t include government jobs), which showed that job losses in the U.S. private sector fell to their lowest monthly level in nearly a year. “Only” 298,000 jobs were cut in August. After this tidbit we find mortgage rates unchanged but still very low.