Here are a new mess of Quotes! Enjoy!
"The person who would like to make his dreams come true MUST STAY
AWAKE."
-- Richard Wheeler, Rotarian
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has
reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome."
-- Booker T. Washington, Educator
"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes
longer."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing
in life."
-- Muhammad Ali, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
"Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work
of superior people"
-- John. D. Rockefeller, American Industrialist
"Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still."
-- Chinese Proverb
"Once you've done the mental work, there comes a point (where) you have
to throw yourself into the action and put your heart on the line."
-- Phil Jackson, Coach of the Los Angeles Lakers
"Education is of no value and talent is worthless - unless you have an
unwavering aim. Never find yourself without a compass."
-- Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
"A man with ability and the desire to accomplish something can do
anything"
-- Donald Kircher, Executive
"All parents believe their children can do the impossible. They thought
it the minute we were born, and no matter how hard we've tried to prove
them wrong, they all think it about us now. And the really annoying
thing is, they're probably right"
-- Cathy Guisewite, Cartoonist
"Victory often goes to the army that makes the least mistakes, not them
most brilliant plans."
-- Charles de Gaulle, 18th President of the French Republic
"He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail
that none can pierce. "
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author
"I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything.. at
least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of
what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything."
-- Dan Millman, Author
"Self-image sets the boundaries of accomplishment."
-- Maxwell Maltz, Author
"Hard work spotlights the character of people. Some turn up their
sleeves, some turn up their noses and some don't turn up at all."
-- Sam Ewing, Writer
"If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. No one would
have remembered him, either."
-- Anonymous
"Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you results."
-- Anonymous
"A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck."
-- James Garfield, 20th President of the United States
"Talent made a poor appearance. Until he married Perseverance."
-- Arthur Guiterman, Editor and Poet
"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of
their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they
can accomplish. "
-- Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club
"If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it. The
only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of
knowledge, experience and ability. "
-- Henry Ford, industrialist
"I always remember an epitaph in the cemetery at Tombstone, Ariz. It
says: "Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest." I think that's
the greatest epitaph a man can have."
-- Harry Truman, 33rd President of the United States
Call me if you need anything!
Monday, April 20, 2009
What Went on Last Week in RE!
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE Last week's March housing starts came in a little worse than expected – a 10.8% decline, to a 510,000 unit annual rate. And new building permits were down 9.0% for March, to an annual rate of 513,000 units.
But all of March's drop in starts was from multiple-family units. Single-family starts were in fact unchanged and have stayed above their January level for the last two months. Some observers feel that after peaking in early 2006 and then falling for three years, housing stats finally hit bottom in Q1 this year. They say the stage is now set for a major home building turnaround that should begin in late 2009 and make a real contribution to the economy in 2010 and 2011. Once excess inventory is sold off, growth in population and tear downs point to a rate of about 1.6 million starts a year – more than three times the current level!
All this may be why a builder confidence index moved up 5 points in April to its highest level since October 2008. The National Association of Home Builders said the overall score was still low, but it was a clear improvement over the last five months. Actually, the April gain was the largest one-month rise since May 2003. And the segment of the index that measures builders' expectations for single-family home sales for the next six months rose 10 points over prior months.
>> Review of Last Week
STILL HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... Last week's stock market performance gave us the SIXTH straight week of stocks going UP, although the increases in the indexes were all smaller than before. But last week had some key economic and corporate earnings reports that could have sent things south. The fact that we were still up for the week was good news indeed.
Some of the negative drag on investors came from weaker Retail Sales data for March, particularly disappointing following two months of good news from this sector. We also had Industrial Production showing a slight decline. Finally, Housing Starts and Building Permits came in slightly lower than expected, although things weren't really so bad, as explained above.
On the good side, we had encouraging news from the financials, who are expected to lead us out of this economic contraction. Goldman Sachs announced a $5 billion common stock offering, along with way better than expected Q1 revenues and earnings. We also had better than anticipated Q1 results from two other major banks. Intel beat expectations for earnings and revenue and said the bottom has been reached in the PC market. Google also beat earnings estimates and Consumer Sentiment came in better than expected to round out the week. As one analyst put it, things are far from perfect, but at least the good news is now outweighing the bad.
Investors appear to agree, as the Dow ended the week UP 0.6%, to 8131.33; the S&P 500 was UP 1.5%, to 869.60; and the NASDAQ ended UP 1.2%, to 1673.07.
Rising prices for stocks again saw falling prices in the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which runs counter to price, inched up a bit, to 2.951%. This is still under the 3% threshold and mortgage rates on average dipped slightly during the week, remaining at historically low levels.
>> This Week’s Forecast
MORE HOUSING, MORE TECH... Two of our favorite economic reports wrap up the week, with Existing Home Sales on Thursday, followed by Friday's New Home Sales. Monday's LEI gives us an overall look at the economy and Friday's Durable Goods Orders should also be interesting to ponder.
Most importantly, we get quite a few key corporate earnings reports, with an emphasis on the tech sector. IBM, AT&T, Apple and Mircosoft will all share their Q1 numbers.
>> The Week’s Economic Indicator Calendar
Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates.
Economic Calendar for the Week of Apr 20 – Apr 24
Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact
M
Apr 20 10:00 Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) Mar –0.2% –0.4% Moderate
W
Apr 22 10:35 Crude Inventories 4/17 NA 5670K Moderate
Th
Apr 23 08:30 Initial Jobless Claims 4/18 630K 610K Moderate
Th
Apr 23 10:00 Existing Home Sales Mar 4.65M 4.72M Moderate
F
Apr 24 08:30 Durable Goods Orders Mar –1.5% 3.4% Moderate
F
Apr 24 08:30 Durable Goods Orders, Ex-Auto Mar –1.2% 3.9% Moderate
F
Apr 24 10:00 New Home Sales Mar 340K 337K Moderate
>> Federal Reserve Watch
Forecasting Federal Reserve policy changes in coming months. There will be another Fed meeting next week, but they've already said they'll keep the fed funds rate down for an extended period and that's still what virtually all experts expect.
Current Fed Funds Rate: 0%–0.25%
Call me with any questions!
But all of March's drop in starts was from multiple-family units. Single-family starts were in fact unchanged and have stayed above their January level for the last two months. Some observers feel that after peaking in early 2006 and then falling for three years, housing stats finally hit bottom in Q1 this year. They say the stage is now set for a major home building turnaround that should begin in late 2009 and make a real contribution to the economy in 2010 and 2011. Once excess inventory is sold off, growth in population and tear downs point to a rate of about 1.6 million starts a year – more than three times the current level!
All this may be why a builder confidence index moved up 5 points in April to its highest level since October 2008. The National Association of Home Builders said the overall score was still low, but it was a clear improvement over the last five months. Actually, the April gain was the largest one-month rise since May 2003. And the segment of the index that measures builders' expectations for single-family home sales for the next six months rose 10 points over prior months.
>> Review of Last Week
STILL HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... Last week's stock market performance gave us the SIXTH straight week of stocks going UP, although the increases in the indexes were all smaller than before. But last week had some key economic and corporate earnings reports that could have sent things south. The fact that we were still up for the week was good news indeed.
Some of the negative drag on investors came from weaker Retail Sales data for March, particularly disappointing following two months of good news from this sector. We also had Industrial Production showing a slight decline. Finally, Housing Starts and Building Permits came in slightly lower than expected, although things weren't really so bad, as explained above.
On the good side, we had encouraging news from the financials, who are expected to lead us out of this economic contraction. Goldman Sachs announced a $5 billion common stock offering, along with way better than expected Q1 revenues and earnings. We also had better than anticipated Q1 results from two other major banks. Intel beat expectations for earnings and revenue and said the bottom has been reached in the PC market. Google also beat earnings estimates and Consumer Sentiment came in better than expected to round out the week. As one analyst put it, things are far from perfect, but at least the good news is now outweighing the bad.
Investors appear to agree, as the Dow ended the week UP 0.6%, to 8131.33; the S&P 500 was UP 1.5%, to 869.60; and the NASDAQ ended UP 1.2%, to 1673.07.
Rising prices for stocks again saw falling prices in the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which runs counter to price, inched up a bit, to 2.951%. This is still under the 3% threshold and mortgage rates on average dipped slightly during the week, remaining at historically low levels.
>> This Week’s Forecast
MORE HOUSING, MORE TECH... Two of our favorite economic reports wrap up the week, with Existing Home Sales on Thursday, followed by Friday's New Home Sales. Monday's LEI gives us an overall look at the economy and Friday's Durable Goods Orders should also be interesting to ponder.
Most importantly, we get quite a few key corporate earnings reports, with an emphasis on the tech sector. IBM, AT&T, Apple and Mircosoft will all share their Q1 numbers.
>> The Week’s Economic Indicator Calendar
Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates.
Economic Calendar for the Week of Apr 20 – Apr 24
Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact
M
Apr 20 10:00 Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) Mar –0.2% –0.4% Moderate
W
Apr 22 10:35 Crude Inventories 4/17 NA 5670K Moderate
Th
Apr 23 08:30 Initial Jobless Claims 4/18 630K 610K Moderate
Th
Apr 23 10:00 Existing Home Sales Mar 4.65M 4.72M Moderate
F
Apr 24 08:30 Durable Goods Orders Mar –1.5% 3.4% Moderate
F
Apr 24 08:30 Durable Goods Orders, Ex-Auto Mar –1.2% 3.9% Moderate
F
Apr 24 10:00 New Home Sales Mar 340K 337K Moderate
>> Federal Reserve Watch
Forecasting Federal Reserve policy changes in coming months. There will be another Fed meeting next week, but they've already said they'll keep the fed funds rate down for an extended period and that's still what virtually all experts expect.
Current Fed Funds Rate: 0%–0.25%
Call me with any questions!
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