Stocks are lower as the Iranian war drags on. Bonds and MBS are down.
Initial Jobless claims were flat at 210k last week.
President Trump has told aides that he wants to wrap up the Iran war in the next couple of weeks. Trump has a meeting with China in mid-May and wants the conflict resolved by then. He believes the conflict is in its final stages. Separately, Israel killed the Iranian Naval Commander responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
The situation in Iran is not helping prices. Import prices rose 1.3% in February after advancing 0.6% in January. Unsurprisingly energy prices drove the increase. Non-fuel import prices rose 1.1%, driven by increases in capital goods and food.
Export prices rose 1.5% in February, driven by capital goods and industrial materials.
14% of home sales fell through in February, according to research from Redfin. “Homes are falling out of contract left and right,” said Juan Castro, a Redfin Premier agent in Orlando. “Sometimes buyers make an offer but never send the deposit because they get nervous, sometimes they revisit numbers with lenders and don’t feel comfortable with the monthly payments, and other times they use a minor inspection issue as an excuse to back out. I’m also seeing buyers negotiate aggressively–for instance, maybe they ask for a brand-new roof because three shingles are missing on an otherwise perfectly good roof–then cancel the deal if the seller says no.”
Buyers have the upper hand these days and are backing out if they don’t like the results of an inspection. Oversupplied markets like Tampa and San Antonio are seeing the biggest number of cancellations.
