Succinct summation of week’s events:
Positives
1)Ireland getting bank bailout, fire put out for now 2)China, Hong Kong and South Korea all take steps to battle rising inflation 3)Philly Fed much better than expected and at best level since Dec ’09 4)Initial Claims fall below 440k for 2nd straight week 5)US Retail Sales show upside surprise 6)Germany Nov ZEW unexpectedly rises 7)From contrarian view, bulls in AAII fall to 40 from 57.6 which was highest since Jan ’07
Negatives
1)Ireland getting bank bailout, debt paydown avoids another day 2)China, Hong Kong and South Korea all take steps to slow things down 3)Multi family housing starts fall sharply 4)NY manufacturing much weaker than expected (but 6 mo outlook rises) 5)NAHB housing figure remains punk 6)Interest rates move higher, average 30 yr mortgage rate at 2 mo high 7)Refi’s fall 17%, purchases down 5% 8)Muni’s under pressure 9)From contrarian view, bulls in II highest since Dec ’07.
