Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced on Wednesday, during another round of a previously unprecedented press conference, that the Federal Reserve Board Members and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents have revised their economic growth forecasts for the balance of 2011 and for 2012 and 2013 as well.Read more
May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) data was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today and the results were concerning from an inflationary standpoint but perhaps not as concerning as initial headlines may suggest.Read more
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), in a June 8, 2011 report entitled, “Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey” the average interest rate for 30-year mortgages decreased to 4.54%, which is the lowest rate observed since November 19, 2010. Despite the historically low rate of interest, and the seemingly available supply of credit, applications for mortgages are not increasing, as one might expect, but actually are continuing to decline. According to the MBA, as of the week ending June 3, 2011, mortgage loan applications, as measured by the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, decreased by 4.4% over the course of the previous week and by 3% over the month of May. Looking back even further, applications for mortgage loans are down over 15% on a year-over-year basis as of May 2011.Read more
A “triple whammy” of disappointing economic data reports hit the newswires today. Poor reading on private job creation, housing and manufacturing data led to an about-face in the stock as investors are seemingly starting to now question the strength and sustainability of the economic recovery in the U.S.Read more