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July 3, 2013

Lots of Data. Mixed but Overall Slightly Negative.

July 3, 2013

Lots of Data. Mixed but Overall Slightly Negative.

Because of the holiday, today has an unusually large amount of fundamentals of mid-level importance.  The picture is mixed but overall slightly negative for the economy.


MBA Purchase Applications (week ended 6/28/2013)

– Purchase Index Week/Week -3.0%. Previous weeks were +2.0%, -3.0%, +5.0%, -2.0%, 3.0%, -3.0%.

– Refinance Index Week/Week -16.0%. Previous weeks were -5.0%, -3.0%, +5.0%, -15%, -12.0%

– Composite Index Week/Week -11.7%. Previous weeks were -3.0%, 3.3%, +5.0%, -11.5%, -8.8%, -9.8%.

The “higher interest rates won’t affect purchases” meme is looking a bit shaky today.  Refinancing is almost entirely rate dependent and suffered last week.

Challenger Job-Cut Report (June 2013)

– Announced Layoffs 39,372. Previous was 36,398.

ADP Employment Report (May 2013)

– Private Jobs +188,000. Previous revised from +135,000  to +134,000.

Trade Balance (May 2013)

– Trade Balance -$45.0 billion. May’s data was not about oil.  Exports were down and imports were up.

This will hurt 2ndQ2013 GDP which is troubling because 1stQ2013 was so weak.

Jobless Claims (Week ended 6/29/2013)

– New Claims 343,000. Previous revised from 346,000 to 348,000

– 4-week Moving Average 345,500.

Jobless claims have bottomed out and appear to have leveled off.

ISM Service Sector Index (June 2013)

– Composite Index 52.2. Previous was 53.7.

This still shows growth but at a slower pace.