Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1418.5 | 5.5 | 0.39% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2593.6 | -9.8 | -0.38% |
| Oil (WTI) | 86.71 | 0.5 | 0.52% |
| LIBOR | 0.31 | -0.001 | -0.32% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 80.48 | 0.225 | 0.28% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 1.62% | 0.03% | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 190.9 | -0.1 |
Markets are higher after a better-than expected jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 146k in November vs an expectation of 85k. October was revised down from 171k to 138k. The unemployment rate dropped from 7.9% to 7.7%, but this was driven by a drop in the labor force participation rate from 63.8% to 63.6%. Surprisingly, Sandy didn’t appear to have much of an impact on the numbers. Still the headline numbers look good, and that is driving the index futures higher. Feels like the Street was leaning short going into the numbers. Bonds are down a point and MBS are down 7 ticks.
Small Business Hiring Plans hit post-recession low. Hiring plans are as low as they were in late 2008. Resolution of the election “uncertainty” doesn’t seem to be having an effect, at least not yet. We’ll see if resolving the fiscal cliff changes anything; my guess is that it won’t.
The National Association of Homebuilders added 76 MSAs to their Improving Markets Index. The recent housing strength is spreading across the country. They note that “overly tight mortgage lending standards” are the one thing that is holding back progress.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told the Senate Banking Committee that FHA is committed to selling at least 10,000 distressed loans per quarter over the next year, and it will raise the annual insurance premium paid by borrowers by 10 basis points.
If the Fed adds another Treasury-buying program to compensate for the end of Operation Twist, they will almost certainly have to re-write their exit plan. The sheer size of the numbers (estimates are that the Fed will have to sell $2 – $3 trillion worth of assets over several years. If the Fed attempts to dump mortgage backed securities en-masse, it will exacerbate the increase in borrowing rates that will already be taking place.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Thanks for the link to the NAHB IMI. Interesting to see the variance across the country in terms of price/permit troughs.
ATL up 16.2% since their price trough at the beginning of the year! Prices going up in Tampa, but permits still weak.
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For those who haven’t seen it, this is worth a read:
“Honolulu after Pearl Harbor: A report published for the first time, 71 years later
By Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Published: December 6”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/honolulu-after-pearl-harbor-a-report-published-for-the-first-time-71-years-later/2012/12/06/e9029986-3d69-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html?hpid=z2
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Re: the new post comment section. you can click on a link and pull up all your old comments. kind of fun.
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Full text of DoD GC Jeh Johnson’s speech at Oxford. A view toward what the end of the “War on Terror” might look like.
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Johnson’s speech addresses a serious question: How will we know when the war against AQ has morphed into ordinary counter-terrorism? When AQ has lost the power to strike at the USA with military weapons? The implication is that when the war against AQ is over we will have to dispose of the remaining prisoners in a lawful fashion.
This is a non-traditional and undeclared war. I return to the piracy analogy, which is close to what we are dealing with now [non-state actors who mount armed forces to strike at civilians for the benefit of the non-state actors, distinguished from ordinary crime by the magnitude and predictable repetition of the force and the cohesion of the paramilitary gang]. Extend the laws of piracy to terrorists.
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nova:
I think I might roll my eyes at all the idiotic crap that I have posted at WaPo, particularly when I was feeding the trolls ….
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