The stock market: It rallied sharply on the following news:
Washington, Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. new home sales fell in January by the most in nine years, reflecting a record decrease in the Midwest and declines in the West and South.
Single-family homes sales dropped to a 914,000-unit annual rate, the weakest in a year and down 15.1 percent from December's revised 1.077 million-unit pace, the Commerce Department said. Economists had expected sales to drop to a 1.05 million rate according to the median of 55 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
Washington, Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to the highest level this year as more companies fired employees amid slow economic growth and concerns about a possible Iraq war.
States received 417,000 new claims in the week that ended Saturday, up from a revised 406,000 the week before, the Labor Department said. The less-volatile four-week moving average of claims rose to 399,750 from 394,750, the highest since the first week of January.
Washington, Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. durable goods orders rebounded more than expected in January, sparked by a surge in bookings for business equipment and automobiles, a government report showed.
A 3.3 percent increase in orders for big-ticket items made to last at least three years followed a 0.4 percent drop in December and a 1.2 percent decline in November, the Commerce Department said.
The real story on the durable goods number:
"At first blush the 'good news' seems to be all seasonal adjustment.
The raw data shows an actual decline month over month, and if you take out Defense orders, they declined a lot."
You combine that economic news and $40 oil, some mix for a sharp stock market rally.
Price action makes market commentary. The Working Group on Financial Markets knows this very well. By taking gold down on positive news (soaring oil prices) and the stock market up on lousy economic news, they want the commentary to be how crummy gold acts and how well the stock market acts. Their mission is to bring on gold selling and stock buying because of the market action.
That will work in the Twilight Zone for awhile, but not for long. |
