| Click here for yesterday's / today's market indices
|
|
| Homes under sales contracts continue to build
|
| Pending home sales rose in May for the fourth straight month, spurred by low prices and a first-time homebuyers tax credit, providing fresh evidence that the housing sector may be recovering.
|
| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0201 EDST
|
| Pending Home Sales Record Fourth Straight Monthly Gain
|
| The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in May, increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 90.6 in April, and is 6.7 percent higher than May 2008 when it was 85.0. The last time there were four consecutive monthly gains was in October 2004.
|
| @ National Association of Realtors | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0315 EDST
|
| Measure to help 'underwater' homeowners stirs critics
|
The Obama administration is expanding a program to stave off foreclosure for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their home's market value will qualify for government help refinancing their mortgages. The program is now limited to borrowers who owe 5 percent more than their homes are worth.
Editor's Comment: This is a good read
|
| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0320 EDST
|
| Breaking new ground: Housing project bucks downturn
|
| Builders in unincorporated Lee County pulled 24 permits for single-family houses in June, collectively valued at more than $6.1 million, according to a county release Wednesday. That compares to 50 permits issued during May and 56 issued in June 2008. County communications manager Joan LaGuardia said May's figures were likely somewhat higher and June's lower than usual because May was the deadline before higher county permitting fees went into effect for all construction.
|
| @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0330 EDST
|
| Freddie gets fresh funding
|
| The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been operating Freddie Mac since fall, requested the funds after the mortgage firm's liabilities exceeded its assets by more than $6 billion, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After drawing the funds, Freddie Mac has now received $51.7 billion from the Treasury Department and has access to $149.3 billion more to help it finance operations.
|
| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0345 EDST
|
| The overall economy grew for the second consecutive month following seven months of decline
|
| "Manufacturing continues to contract at a slower rate, but the trends in the indexes are encouraging as seven of 18 industries reported growth in June. Most encouraging is the gain in the Production Index, which is up 12.1 percentage points in the last two months to 52.5 percent. Aggressive inventory reduction continues and indications are that the de-stocking cycle is at or near the end in most industries, as the Customers' Inventories Index remained below 50 percent for the third consecutive month. The Prices Index was unchanged from May, indicating that the supply/demand balance is improving. Overall, a slow recovery for manufacturing is forming based on the current trends in the ISM data."
|
| @ Instirute of Supply Management | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0400 EDST
|
| The Jobless Decade. The new millennium is on course to hit a grim milestone.
|
| If, as expected, 363,000 jobs were eliminated last month, it will mean 131.8 million people are working in the U.S.--the same as May of 2000. If another million jobs disappear by the end of the year--likely, without unexpected improvement--an entire decade of employment gains will have been wiped out. In January of 2000, there were 130.8 million jobs in the country. "It's not that those jobs weren't needed. The labor force has grown by nearly 13 million people,"
|
| @ Forbes | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0415 EDST
|
| U.S. jobless rate seen highest since 1983
|
| The U.S. economy likely shed a further 355,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high, but for a nation mired in its deepest recession since at least World War Two that may be good news. The U.S. Labor Department's report due on Thursday is expected to depict an economy still wallowing in recession but confirm that the pace of job loss has slowed, which would suggest the 18-month-old recession is easing its grip.
|
| @ Reuters | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0419 EDST
|
|
|
| Can't Robots Press the Elevator Buttons?
|
| Japan, the world's most efficient economy, has lots of gas station attendants and elevator operators. Why?
|
| @ Slate | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0646 EDST
|
| German Budget Headed for Massive Shortfalls
|
| Chancellor Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft budget plan which calls for 310 billion euros of new debt in the next four years. In 2010, Berlin is expected to set a post-war record for deficit spending. Merkel's cabinet adopted a plan presented by Steinbrück which provides the framework for the next four years of German fiscal planning. In total, it calls for €310 billion ($436 billion) in fresh debt from 2010 to 2013, including a whopping €86.1 billion ($121.2 billion) for 2010, far and away the largest single-year budgetary hole in the history of post-war Germany.
|
| @ Der Spiegel | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0652 EDST
|
| India Economy May Grow 7.75% This Year
|
| “The speed at which the Indian economy returns to a high growth path in the short term depends on a revival of the global economy, particularly the U.S. economy,” the annual Economic Survey prepared by officials advising Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said. Growth could be as little as 6.25 percent if there are delays in a U.S. revival, today’s report said.
|
| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 07/02/09 at 0655 EDST
|
| -30- |
