While the corporate profit reports being released as of late are stronger than expected, geopolitical concerns are dragging down the stock market in a big way. On Wednesday the DOW hit another record high which kept the upward momentum of the market going. However on Thursday the market did a turnaround and dropped 161 points.
With the news that Israel has sent ground troops in to the Gaza region combined with the announcement of the Malaysia airline being shot down in the Ukraine, investors became spooked and started selling. Investors immediately started selling their holdings to place money in bonds and gold which are typically safe havens for market turmoil. Gold and bonds usually move in an opposite direction of what is happening in the stock market.
Investors that were interviewed stated that right now there is too much political unrest happening around the world that counteracts the many positive economic reports that have been released so far in the month of July.
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Although corporate profit reports have been better than expectations, there are worries that the housing sector may still need additional help. Housing starts came in lower than expected for the month of June. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has previously expressed concern about the housing market and it seems that her concerns may be justified,
Housing starts disappointed sharply in the month of June.by declining 9.3 percent. This comes on the heels of the prior month’s drop of 7.3 percent in May. The one bright spot in the report is that starts are 7.5 percent higher than the same time last year. Additionally it was reported that building permits also lost ground. Permits declined 4.2 percent after decreasing 5.1 percent in May.
Related: Santa Clarita Real Estate Reports
The Mortgage Bankers Association of American reported that despite mortgage rates remaining stable, applications for purchase applications declined 8.0 percent in the prior week. Refinances were virtually unchanged. It is a little too early to determine if the market is really slowing or if it is just the normal summer season slow down.
On a positive note, the labor market continues to improve. First time jobless claims for the week ending July 12th came in at 302,000. This is the lowest number of claims since the recession. The 4 week moving average came in at 309,000 which is also a post-recession low.
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There is a lot of mixed perceptions out there of what is happening so it will be hard to postulate what the economic reports will be in the coming months. I believe that companies will continue to grow market share and make solid profits and the overall economy will improve.
With the said, we are not going to take off soon as far as a normal robust economy. With government overspending and economic policies that elected official have implemented to try to keep their parties happy and ensure their re-election (I am referring to both parties and both the state and federal elected officials) instead of economic policies that create job growth, we are in for a long slow recovery.
The additional unrest coming from Mideast and Russia will be a wild card that no one can predict how it will impact the markets in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
This week’s market moving reports are:
Tuesday July 22nd – Consumer Price Index, FHFA House Price Index & Existing Home Sales
Wednesday July 23rd – MBA Applications
Thursday July 24th – First Time Jobless Claims and New Home Sales
Friday July 25th – Durable Goods Orders
As your mortgage professional, I am happy to assist you with any information you may need regarding mortgage or real estate trends. I welcome the opportunity to serve you in any way I possibly can. Please feel free to reach me at (661) 505-4300.
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Source: Santa Clarita News
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