January Trade Balance meets

  • March 7, 2017
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  • realestatelife

January Trade Balance -48.5B vs. estimates of -48.5B. This of course meets expectations and will not be a factor for today’s pricing.

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ADP reports blowout 298,000 jobs gain for February

  • March 8, 2017
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  • realestatelife

ADP says February was third-best month of jobs growth of the recovery. Private-sector employment increased by 298,000, ADP reported Thursday. That gain suggests a much better than forecast reading for the payrolls report due Friday, where expectations are for 200,000 jobs added.

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Unit Labor Costs / Nonfarm Productivity

  • March 8, 2017
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  • realestatelife

Unit Labor Costs 1.7 vs. estimates of 1.6. Nonfarm Productivity 1.3 vs. estimates of 1.5. This is revised data from the 4th QTR.

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Jobless claims surge 20,000 to 243,000

  • March 9, 2017
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  • realestatelife

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits jumped by 20,000 to 243,000 in early March, but layoffs remained near a 45-year low. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to total 238,000 in the seven days stretching from Feb. 26 to March 4

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U.S import prices surge again, but this time it’s not oil

  • March 9, 2017
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  • realestatelife

The price of imports rose in February for the third month in a row, and in a potentially worrisome sign, the increase spread beyond oil into other industrial and consumer goods. The import price index rose 0.2% in February following even bigger increases in the prior two months, the government reported Thursday. Yet unlike in

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ECB leaves rates unchanged, plans to leave them at present or lower levels for ‘extended period

  • March 9, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

The European Central Bank offered no surprises Thursday as it left interest rates unchanged. The Governing Council left the main refinancing rate at 0%, while the rate on deposits parked overnight at the bank remains at minus 0.4%. The rate on the bank’s marginal lending facility remains at 0.25%. In a statement, the bank repeated

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European bond yields tick lower after ECB leaves interest-rates unchanged

  • March 9, 2017
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  • realestatelife

European government bond yields ticked lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank left its monetary-policy strategy steady. The yield on the 10-year German bund , considered the European benchmark, was up half a basis point on the day at 0.375%, while the yield on the 10-year French bond declined two basis points to 1.008%.

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Gold heads toward 8th-straight loss as oil slides, dollar steadies

  • March 9, 2017
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  • realestatelife

Gold futures pushed their slide into an eighth consecutive session Thursday as prices languished at their lowest since early February. A sharp drop for oil prices, as crude dropped below $49 a barrel for the first time this year, weighed on gold trading. The yellow metal fell even as a rising dollar index paused its

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Mortgage rates jump to 2017 high

  • March 9, 2017
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  • realestatelife

Rates for home loans spiked along with a surge in Treasury yields as Federal Reserve officials guided market expectations toward an interest rate increase next week. It is only the third week in 2017 in which interest rates have increased.

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Treasury yields steady as investors await jobs report

  • March 10, 2017
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  • realestatelife

Treasury yields moved moderately lower Friday as investors awaited the jobs report from President Donald Trump’s first full month in office. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged lower to 2.604%, while the yield on the 30-year bond was flat at 3.189%. The yield on the two-year note was off slightly at 1.376%. Treasury

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