I know I have toned down the sarcasm as of late in my newsletters at the request of some of my faithful readers. Unfortunately I must dip into the sarcasm well once again based upon some recent happenings.
By now you must have heard about the “Occupy Wall Street Movement” that is spreading throughout the country and the world. It has been going on for 27 days now. The movement is citizen’s exercising their right to free speech so I support them making their presence felt. My only question is “What are they trying to accomplish”? (Every time one of the protesters is interviewed on radio or TV they don’t seem to have a clue as to what they are actually trying to accomplish other than blaming Wall Street for them being out of work and for the real estate market crashing.)
In fact, when you really pay attention to what is being said by protesters, it appears that there are many different factions within the movement. It seems like different people have their own agenda’s and that the movement does not have a unified goal. However, according to the founders of the protest they state they have already accomplished their goal which is making people aware of the inequality of wealth in this country. This is something new? (By the way a recent survey shows that 66% of the people disagree with the protesters.)
OK my sarcasm is done for now and I do apologize for reverting back to my old self.
In the markets and economic news we have both good and not so good reports this week. Unfortunately mortgage rates have been rising lately which will certainly put the brakes on the number of people refinancing their homes. The bigger question is will the rising rates spur home buying or slow it? Mortgage rates remain very low and home affordability remains at one of the highest points in history. What is needed is for the media to continuously relay and reinforce the message to the public that now is a great time to purchase a home.
The Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes of their last meeting and it appears that the divide on what they should do to help the sputtering economy remains. Based upon the minutes it is clear that there still seems to be no agreement on whether another round of economic stimulus should be launched.
On the positive side is that Europe slowly but surely seems to be getting things in place to avoid the collapse of the financial system which is related to the debt crisis that we hear so much about. The governments in Europe have been working diligently on containing the crisis and have been working out solutions to avoid debt defaults.
Employment continues to remain a challenge to the recovery in that last week the national unemployment rate remained at 9.1%. Additionally, First Time Jobless Claims once again were reported over 400,000 which reverse’s the declining trend we had been seeing. Last week claims were also above 400,000 but it was the first time in many weeks so many experts though it may have just been a momentary rise rather than a trend.
The highlight of this week’s economic reports is the better than expected Retail Sales announcement. Last month sales increased 1.1% which was the second consecutive month of better than expected results. This is proof that consumers are continuing to increase spending and that the trend is improving little by little each month.
Next week important statistics will be released on housing and inflation.
- Monday October 17th – Industrial Production
- Tuesday October 18th – Producer Price Index
- Wednesday October 19th – MBA Applications, Consumer Price Index & Housing Starts
- Thursday October 20th – First Time Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales
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