From the category archives:
The banking stocks recently suffered another mini-crash. So it’s no surprise Washington is responding with yet another “solution” to the crisis. Every few months, this happens. Some bank, broker, or subsector of the credit market blows up … policymakers try to think up a solution … that solution gets leaked to the press ahead of [...]
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That headline pretty much sums up the latest “Beige Book” report from the Federal Reserve. If you prefer the full Fed-speak version, click here. I’ll just excerpt the summary below …
“District reports indicate that retail sales were generally weak, particularly during the holiday season. A majority of Districts noted deep discounting during the holiday sales [...]
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke just released some comments on the economy, the lending industry, and the credit markets.The first portion of his comments is a recap of his view on the credit bubble …”The proximate cause of the crisis was the turn of the housing cycle in the United States and the associated rise [...]
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I can count on one hand the number of economists who were expecting the holiday shopping season to be a good one. But even the generally grim consensus forecasts apparently weren’t grim enough, according to early sales results. Here are some more details from the Wall Street Journal …
“Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday [...]
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The National Association of Realtors released its report on October pending home sales today. Here’s what the figures showed:
* Pending home sales dipped 0.7% in October. That was better than the 3% decline that economists were expecting. September’s reading was revised to -4.3% from -4.6%.
* The pending home sales index, at 88.9, was down 1% [...]
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We just got a big batch of economic data, and most of it doesn’t look good — though it’s not exactly a surprise on Wall Street. A quick recap:
* Durable goods orders plunged 6.2% in October, more than twice the forecast for a 3% drop and the biggest decline since October 2006 (-8.3%). If you [...]
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Another day, another batch of dismal economic data. This time it’s the ISM Manufacturing index. It came in at 38.9in October, down from 43.5 in September and below forecasts for a reading of 41. That’s the worst ISM reading going allthe way back to September 1982. In case you’re wondering, the worst reading ever (my [...]
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A lot of economic data hit the tape today, and it all tells the same story: It’s ugly out there. While initialjobless claims dipped to 461,000 from 477,000 a week earlier, continuing claims rose to 3.711 million from 3.671million, the most since June 2003. Net inflows into U.S. assets also came in at just $14 [...]
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Some more news on the economic front this morning …
* Mortgage applications plunged in the week ended September 26, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The purchaseindex dropped 10.9% from the previous week, while the refinance index tanked 34.7%. At 304.8, the purchase index is thelowest since February 2002. Interest rates were relatively stable (6.07% [...]
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It seems like some form of bailout bill is all but a done deal at this point, though we’re still waiting on thedetails. In the meantime, the “real” economy (as opposed to the financial one) is showing signs of slumping fast.
Durable goods ordersplunged 4.5% in August – more than double the 1.9% decline that economists [...]
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