Last week wasn't kind to stock market investors, but weekly jobless claims fell to an unexpected low of 320,000 new jobless claims filed, the lowest level in nearly six years. Here is a review of the major events of the week. Monday: The federal budget for July shows an increase in its deficit to -$98 billion, a deficit increase of $28 billion over June's figure of -$70 billion. The good news is that the deficit for the first 10 months of the fiscal year is $38 billion less than during the same period of the prior fiscal year. Thursday: Thursday was a busy day for economic news. The … [Read more...]

Highlights of economic news from last week, include a survey of senior loan officers from U.S. and foreign banks doing business in the U.S. They indicated that banks were gradually easing lending standards for business and consumer loans, but viewed lending criteria for home loans as more restrictive than other types of loans. According to CoreLogic, U.S. home prices increased at their fastest pace since February 2006. Mortgage rates rose incrementally, and the Weekly Jobless Claims report came in lower than the expected 339,000 at 333,000 new jobless claims. Monday: Bank loan officers … [Read more...]

The past week brought encouraging economic news from several sources. The FOMC statement indicated that the Federal Reserve has not set a date for rolling back its quantitative easing program and ADP reported more private sector jobs added than expected. While weekly jobless claims were fewer than expected, the national unemployment rate remained elevated: Monday: Pending Home Sales: The National Association of REALTORS reported that sales contracts fell in June due to rising mortgage rates and a tight inventory of available homes. Tuesday: The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price … [Read more...]