11/25/09

Good morning. Anyone have gold to sell? It hit another high on dollar weakness, nearing $1,200 per ounce!!! Today there are many economic numbers to digest. Personal Income and Consumption, Durable Goods, Housing Starts and Building Permits and New Home Sales.
Jobless Claims dropped 35,000 last week, which surprised forecasters. The surprising decline in unemployment claims overshadowed two other 8:30 reports; Oct personal income increased slightly and spending was up 0.7%. Oct durable goods orders fell slightly. Without the claims data the decline in orders would be seen as a negative; however durables is a very volatile series so traders tend to pay it less attention.
Finally today (and the rest of the week) Oct new home sales were forecast to be up 0.8%, but sales jumped 6.2%. There is a 6.7 month supply based on current sales, the lowest level since 12/06. The median sales price at $212,200 is 0.5% lower on a yr/yr basis. The report sent stock indexes higher.

To wrap up the week; at 1:00 7 yr notes will be auctioned. Likely won't be as well bid as the 2 and 5 yr notes but shouldn't be a failure either. The market is closed tomorrow and open until 1:00 on Friday but not many will be in place. Yesterday and Monday the volume at the NYSE was extremely low, today will likely be the same as investors and traders are winding down for the rest of the year. Many funds have already buttoned up for the year to protect the profits earned this year.
After all this mortgages rates are about unchanged.
Once again, I would like to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I’ll be in touch on Monday the 30th.