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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (59189)	3/25/2005 12:35:11 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

So you opine. Unemployment is no where near ChinuSFO's, "In a situation where there are no jobs, even 5 to 10 dollars is like gold.". And it is no where near as bad as you wish to portray it either. No doubt you are shocked, shocked at the incidents of fraud that was the premise of my posts. Sorry Lizzie, but I'm not part of your groupthink crowd. I'm capable of independent, reality based thought that isn't clouded by relativism, revisionism & inflexible partisan ideology.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (59189)	3/25/2005 1:47:47 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Oh the humanity!!! Durable Orders Weak, Jobless Claims Rise Thursday March 24, 5:52 PM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods barely gained last month but sales of new home soared, mixed news that analysts said did little to alter a view of a solidly expanding U.S. economy. In a somewhat disappointing signal on the factory sector, the Commerce Department said on Thursday orders for durable goods -- pricey items meant to last three years or more -- edged up 0.3 percent in February. This was well below the 1 percent gain expected on Wall Street. But the department said sales of new U.S. homes soared 9.4 percent in February, the largest jump in more than four years. A third report showed claims for jobless aid unexpectedly rose last week, but remained at levels suggesting a continued labor-market recovery. Prices for U.S. government bonds rose slightly on the weaker-than-expected durables data but later turned mixed in thin trade ahead of the long Easter holiday weekend. Similarly, the dollar initially slipped against the euro and yen but later regained the lost ground. Stocks, taking their cue from corporate news, finished mixed. "You have had some softening from strength earlier in the first quarter but not yet enough to alter the strength of economic data on the whole," Wrightson ICAP chief economist Lou Crandall said. AIRCRAFT PROVIDE LIFT Strong aircraft orders kept overall durable goods demand aloft last month, offsetting weakness elsewhere, including a 1.2 percent drop in vehicle orders. Civilian aircraft orders shot up 32.1 percent, partly reversing a big January drop, and defense aircraft orders gained 11.3 percent. Economists had looked for a strong non-defense figure after Ryanair (RYA) announced an order for planes from Boeing Co. (BA) valued at more than $4 billion. Excluding a 1.6 percent transportation orders gain, durable goods demand would have fallen 0.2 percent. The report also suggested businesses scaled back spending plans last month as orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, fell 2.1 percent. But the decline followed an upwardly revised 4.4 percent January advance and economists said the trend was still toward higher capital spending. Outside of aircraft, however, orders were mostly weak, with demand for machinery, fabricated metal products and communications equipment down. Orders for primary metals and computers, however, rose. HOME SALES SOAR The jump in home sales brought the February sales pace back up to the 1.226 million unit annual rate of December, well above Wall Street forecast of a 1.150 million unit pace. Sales rose nationwide, shooting up 20.3 percent in the Northeast, 9.9 percent in the Midwest and 7.4 percent in the West. In the South, which boasts the lion's share of housing activity, sales climbed 9 percent to a record pace of 619,000. Many economists expect home sales, which have helped underpin the U.S. economic expansion, to cool as the Federal Reserve pushes interest rates higher to head off inflation. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates rose to 6.01 percent over the past week, the highest level since July, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. Referring to February's large home sales gain, ABN AMRO chief U.S. economist Steven Ricchiuto speculated buyers could be jumping into the market before mortgage rates rise further. "It's tough to say," he said. "There's nothing in the data that can answer that." The report also showed the median sales price of new homes rose to a record $230,700 from $210,400 in January. Separately, the Labor Department said the number of workers seeking first-time unemployment benefits climbed 3,000 in the week ended March 19 to 324,000. While the rise defied expectations, claims were still well below year-ago levels, a sign the job market is on the mend. New claims have held below 350,000 for 10 straight weeks, also suggesting labor market gains. ©2005 Reuters Limited. finance.myway.com