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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40298)	8/16/2001 10:06:22 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

U.S. Housing Starts Rose in June Wednesday July 18, 9:06 am Eastern Time By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. housing starts climbed in June, but in a potential sign things may slow in the housing market, building permits declined, the government said on Wednesday. The Department of Commerce reported ground-breaking for new homes reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.658 million units in June, a 3 percent increase from the May rate of 1.610 million. Starts were 6.3 percent above a year ago, and the highest rate since 1.666 million units in January. Economists had forecast June starts would come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.607 million units. ``The housing sector continues to be a surprise in this slowdown,'' said Kurt Karl, U.S. chief economist at Swiss Re in New York. ``There continues to be very strong demand on housing.'' At the same time, permits, an indication of the confidence of builders in the economy, fell 3.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.568 million. Permits were a scant 0.1 percent higher than a year ago. It was the lowest level in permits since December, when permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.553 million. That level was below the expectations of analysts, who forecast permits at a 1.603 million rate in June. Regionally, the only decline in housing starts was in the West, where groundbreaking dropped by 2.6 percent. In the Northeast, starts jumped 9.2 percent, while in the South, groundbreaking for new homes climbed 6.6 percent. Starts were unchanged in the Midwest. The housing sector, as measured in starts, new and existing home sales and construction spending, has been a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy U.S. economy most of the year, with low interest rates prompting people to refinance or purchase new homes. But analysts have suggested housing would eventually feel the effects of the overall slowdown in the economy. The rates for thirty-year fixed rate mortgages, the most common type of home-buying loan, rose to 7.21 percent in the week ending July 13, according to mortgage finance company Freddie Mac. That level was the highest in six weeks, although 30-year rates averaged 8.09 percent a year ago. Freddie Mac predicted interest rates for mortgages would remain in the low 7-percent range at least through the summer, and economists have predicted 2001 will be a banner year for the housing market. Mortgage rates were not affected by the Federal Reserve's most recent interest rate cut, its sixth this year, as investors looked ahead to the recovery of the economy from its sluggish performance this year. The U.S. central bank's latest rate-cutting action was on June 27, bringing the federal funds rate to its lowest level in more than seven years, and the Fed has signaled it is prepared to do more should the economy deteriorate further.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40298)	8/16/2001 2:47:20 PM
From: salemas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Good comment Jim Woolly, but this is not a perception, it's a fact.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40298)	8/17/2001 7:20:55 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Ford Continues to cut back...What's new?... ___________________________________________________ Ford Motor Co. Plans to Cut Up to 5,000 Salaried Jobs in North America, Source Says Friday August 17, 6:01 am Eastern Time By ED GARSTEN AP Auto Writer <<DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. [NYSE:F - news] has decided to eliminate between 4,000 and 5,000 white-collar jobs in North America by offering workers early retirement packages, a company executive told The Associated Press on Friday. The cuts will account for about 10 percent of the automaker's salaried work force in North America. The employees will be offered ``very good'' packages, according to the high-ranking Ford executive who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. ``We've become much more efficient and the jobs are not needed anymore,'' the source said. ``It's an incredibly competitive market and the economy has slowed.'' All the workers who are leaving are expected to be gone by December, the executive said. Further details were unavailable. Ford, the world's second largest automaker, was to make the announcement Friday. The yearlong economic slowdown has been hard on automakers as well as other companies struggling with slumping demand. To cope, they have scaled back production and capital investment and laid off workers. In the last 12 months, manufacturers nationwide have cut a total of 837,000 jobs. Telecommunications, computer and electronics companies have announced more than 358,000 job cuts this year, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a job-placement firm. In January, DaimlerChrysler AG [NYSE:DAJ - news] announced an aggressive restructuring program at its U.S.-based Chrysler division that would result in the loss of 26,000 jobs over the next three years, about 20 percent of the company's North American work force. Once thought to be in a position to overtake General Motors Corp. as the world's leading automaker, Ford's momentum slipped into reverse last August with the recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires, many of which were installed as original equipment on its popular Ford Explorers. Adding to Ford's woes were disappointing showings in two influential industry studies. Ford assembly plants were shown to be last among the U.S. automakers in quality in the J.D. Power initial quality study, and while still first among domestic car companies in productivity, the Harbour Report found Ford's lead diminishing. In the second quarter that ended June 30, Ford lost $752 million in large part due to the costs of replacing 13 million Firestone tires and restructuring charges involving Mazda Motor Corp., of which Ford owns a one-third interest. The automaker was expected to take a charge of about $1 billion against its third-quarter earnings to cover the initial cost of the job cuts, The Detroit News reported. Ford management also has begun reviewing the possible delay of some planned vehicle models, which would lower the company's design and engineering costs, The New York Times reported. Shares of Ford were up 92 cents, or more than 4 percent, to close at $23.47 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.>>