Succinct Summations for the week ending September 21st, 2018
Positives:
1. Despite myriad possibilities, POTUS did not start a trade war or cause a constitutional crisis (let’s hope this holds for a while).
2. Housing starts rose 9.2% m/o/m from 1.174M to 1.282M.
3. Jobless claims fell 3k from 204k to 201k, beating expectations.
4. MBA mortgage applications rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% w/o/w, making the index 4% higher than it was a year ago.
5. Current account deficit decreased to 101.5B in the second quarter, lower than the first quarter’s 121.7B
Negatives:
1. Existing home sales came in at 5.34M, missing expectations for fifth month in a row.
2. Housing market index remains at 67 for Sep., the lowest reading since last Oct.
3. Same store sales rose 5.4% w/o/w, 0.9% lower than the previous 6.3% rise.
4. Index of economic leading indicators came in at 0.4%, on the low end of expectations.
5. Iceland wants to kill you. Or me. Or anyone who is not paying close attention to what they are doing.
Thanks, Matt!
