All Things in Moderation

Markets are higher this morning as ECB President Mario Draghi speaks and bank earnings continue to trickle in.

Mortgage Applications fell 2.3% last week. Purchases were down 3.1%, while refis were down 1.8%.

Some weaker economic data this morning: the Empire Manufacturing Index fell steeply in April, to -1.19 vs. 6.9 expected, while industrial production fell .6% and capacity utilization fell to 78.4%. Can’t blame this on the weather – blame the dollar.

Bank of America reported that mortgage originations increased 18% QOQ and 54% on a YOY basis. Between JPM, BAC, and WFC, it looks like the mortgage business is improving quite a bit. Maybe the long-awaited turn in the real estate sector is upon us. We will get more data tomorrow with housing starts and building permits.

Builder confidence rose 4 points in March, according to the NAHB.

Hillary officially launched her campaign over the weekend, unveiling her new logo, which looks like “Hospital Thataway.”  Suffice it to say, the H logo appears to be a bomb, and the interwebs are already making fun of it.