Vital Statistics:
| Last | Change | |
| S&P futures | 2931.75 | 0.7 |
| Eurostoxx index | 390.26 | -0.72 |
| Oil (WTI) | 66.21 | 0.32 |
| 10 year government bond yield | 2.53% | |
| 30 year fixed rate mortgage | 4.23% |
Stocks are lower after 3M missed earnings. Bonds and MBS are flat as well. We will get Amazon.com and Ford after the close.
Durable Goods orders came in way higher than expected for March – increasing 2.7% versus expectations of 0.8%. Much of this was transportation-related. Ex transports, they rose 0.4%, which still beat the 0.2% forecast. Nondefense capital expenditures rose 1.3%, again better than the 1.2% expectation. We might see some estimates for Q1 GDP get taken up on these numbers.
Initial Jobless Claims rose 38k to 230,000. This is the highest print in a while, but it is too early to get a read on whether the labor market is changing. FWIW, organized labor has been scoring some victories lately as worker shortages have given them the upper hand.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton disappointed the street with their earnings this morning. Homebuilding revenue increased 8% YOY and homes closed increased 10% in units. Forward guidance was the issue as its revenue forecast came in light despite the sales estimate coming more or less as expected. The stock is down about 4% pre-open.
More problems with luxury real estate: a glut of inventory in the Hamptons. There are 869 homes for sale in the tony NYC summer vacation location, which is the highest since at last 2012. This seems to mirror the glut of luxury homes in Fairfield County CT as the market seems to be finally meeting its day of reckoning, which was pushed off in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. Most people had the wherewithall to wait out the market, hoping for a recovery that never really came. Now, they are getting impatient and it looks like this sector of the market will finally clear.
Fed pick Steven Moore is in hot water, not for his ideology (though left econ has been piling on), but for calling Cleveland OH and Cincinnati OH “armpits” of America. This is probably a non-controversial opinion to most non-Ohians, but Sherrod Brown (D-OH) thinks this should disqualify him. Note the Washington post is miffed about some humor columns that he wrote in the past too. Herman Cain has withdrawn his application, and it looks like Moore might be on the ropes as well.
The Daily Tearsheet 