Thursday, June 19, 2008
It's another mattress day today as the bond, oil, and the Dow are all struggling to be positive. Making market news today are Mays Leading Economic Indicators, Jobless claims, and the Fed Philly Survey. The LEI, which measures 10 different aspect of the economy and trying to predict how well (or bad) we will do over the next 6 months, came in up .1% in May. Although it is an improvement, it isn't enough to really boost confidence in the market. Initial Jobless claims beat expectations (bad) coming in at 381,000 for last week. Normally a bond rallying number, this week's claims did show a drop of 6,000 from last week, leaving little to help out the market. With the June Philly survey showing another contraction and beating expectations by coming in down 17.1%, we may actually be seeing some help in the bond market in more of staving off losses from investors wanting to buy low on the DOW, which is struggling to stay above 12,000. I would recommend locking rates on any purchase contracts today when you can on worries that investors may pull from the bond and move them into what they may see as cheap stocks. As always, if anything changes, I will let you know.
Karl Menzer
435-849-0212
