1/15/10

Good morning. Yesterday Retail Sales, Jobless Claims, and a good 30-yr bond auction all contributed to an “up day” in bonds with rates going down a bit. Jobless Claims were up, although continuing claims were down and Import Prices for December were unchanged, helping the inflation picture.
This morning we had the Consumer Price Index. We headed in to it with estimates of it being +.2%, and it came in at +.1%, a shade less inflationary than expected. We will also see Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, along with the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Survey. With that in mind mortgage prices are slightly better by about .125.