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Technology Stocks : Mortgage.com, Inc- (Nasdaq: MDCM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Softechie who wrote (40)	8/17/1999 10:44:00 AM
From: $Mogul	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 516

CPI Advances 0.3% as Expected, Housing Starts Make 5.6% Jump An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices rose 0.3% in July after two months of no change, matching Wall Street estimates. Meanwhile, construction starts of new homes climbed a stronger-than-expected 5.7% in July. The consumer-price index's gain was boosted by the biggest increase in energy prices since April, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Core consumer prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy components, rose a more benign 0.2% during the month, compared with 0.1% in June. The numbers are likely to soothe bond investors, who have feared that the price increases might have been greater and prompted drastic action on interest rates from the Federal Reserve Board. The latest report on construction starts of new homes wasn't as comforting. Housing starts rebounded in July, shaking off sluggishness from the prior month and suggesting higher mortgage rates have yet to cut down on demand. The Commerce Department said housing starts climbed 5.7% to a 1.66 million annual rate. June starts were unrevised at a 1.57 million annual rate. Because of a slight upward revision to May, June's decrease was revised to 5.8% from the previously reported 5.6% fall. July construction permits, however, showed some small signs of weakness, falling 0.5% to a 1.632 million yearly pace. Permits are considered an indicator of future home building activity. Fed policy makers will likely not welcome the report. They have long been worried that the economy has been growing at a rate incompatible with low inflation. The starts data would seem to confirm reports in the so-called "beige book" released last week of labor and materials shortages in the interest rate-sensitive housing sector. The numbers were stronger than analysts had predicted. Economists had called for a slight increase to a 1.65 million annual pace.