11/13/09

Good morning. This morning we found out that the U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2%, the most in more than 10 years. Most of the widening was attributed to oil prices (up for the 7th straight month) and imports from China. Both U.S. exports and imports had their best month since December 2008, with imports growing 5.8% and exports rising 2.9% which points to some economic growth here in the US. Moving on to October, U.S. import prices rose for the third straight month, up .7%. After the news we find mortgage rates slightly better.
I’ll be out of the office from Friday afternoon (11/13) and returning on Monday (11/23). I will be available on my Blackberry for email and cell as much as my wife will allow. The number is 425-268-7003. I am hoping to continue the updates while I’m gone, but am uncertain about the internet capability. Thanks