How is the housing industry holding up? And what does the labor market look like? We’ll see this week.

In the early days of this week, the news will shift to the health of the housing industry, and then end with more labor and manufacturing news. Here are some of the reports to watch:

• We’ll start out Tuesday morning with new reports on Housing Starts and Building Permits in March.
• Those reports will be followed on Wednesday by a report on Existing Home Sales in March. So by mid-week, we’ll have a good look at the health of the housing industry. Feel free to call or email me to discuss how these reports came in and what impact they may have.
• Thursday we’ll see the weekly Initial Jobless Claims Report. In the report released last week, Initial Jobless Claims climbed higher to 412,000, and above the psychologically significant 400,000 mark for the first time since March 5th. Funny how those round numbers work with our brains - it's the same logic as why something at the store costs $7.99, instead of $8.00. Overall, the report indicated that employment growth continues to muddle along.
• Also on Thursday, we’ll see more manufacturing news - this time in the form of the Philadelphia Fed Index, which is considered an important indicator of the manufacturing industry and, therefore, has the potential to move the markets depending on how it comes in.

Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.
As you can see in the chart below, Bonds climbed at the end of last week, due in large part to the report that inflation remained contained for now.
Remember, inflation is the archenemy of Bonds and home loan rates. So the news of contained inflation was good for Bonds and home loan rates - making this a good time to purchase or refinance a home. Call today to get started.

Chart: Fannie Mae 4.0% Mortgage Bond (Friday Apr 15, 2011)