Tag: impeachment

Morning Report: NAR predicts 750,000 new homes in 2020

Vital Statistics:

 

Last Change
S&P futures 3078 -12.25
Oil (WTI) 56.72 -0.54
10 year government bond yield 1.95%
30 year fixed rate mortgage 4.04%

 

Stocks are lower this morning on overseas weakness. The bond market is closed for Veteran’s Day.

 

The upcoming week doesn’t have much in the way of data, with the exception of CPI and PPI. Given that the Fed is in a holding patters, these numbers shouldn’t have much of an effect on the bond market unless they are way out of line with expectations. Donald Trump will speak to the NY Economic Club on Tuesday, and investors will be looking for information regarding progress on trade with China. Jerome Powell will speak to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday. And while it will probably not be market-moving, the House will televise impeachment hearings on Wednesday and Friday. So far the markets have ignored the whole kerfuffle.  Unless the Democrats drop something earth-shattering it probably will remain a sideshow. Given the silo-ization of information sources, it will probably turn out that only the converted will be watching the sermon. The consensus seems to be that the House will impeach and the Senate will not convict, with the voting falling strictly down party lines.

 

NAR is predicting that new home sales will jump 11% in 2020 to 750,000 units, the highest since 2007. Existing home sales should increase to 5.56 million units. Median existing home prices are expected to rise in the low 4% range, while new home prices should fall as builders focus on starter homes. While 750,000 may be a large number compared to recent history, it is only at historical averages, which doesn’t really take into account the increasing population.

 

new home sales

 

Consumer credit growth decelerated in September, according to the Fed. Credit card debt fell, although non-revolving debt credit flows dropped as well. The Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey noted that lenders may be tightening standards, which explains the drop in credit card debt.  Note the collateralized loan obligations have been hit recently, which is a potential warning on credit.

 

The early estimates for Q4 GDP are rolling in, and they range anywhere from 0.7% to 2.1%. The Fed estimates are on the low side (surprising since they just cut rates 3 times) and Goldman is out with the 2.1% call. Q4 GDP is going to be all about consumer spending, and so far the consumer confidence numbers are holding up well.

 

 

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Morning Report: The impeachment process begins

Vital Statistics:

 

Last Change
S&P futures 2968 -2.25
Oil (WTI) 56.35 -0.64
10 year government bond yield 1.65%
30 year fixed rate mortgage 3.91%

 

Stocks are flattish this morning despite overseas weakness and Trump Impeachment news. Bonds and MBS are flat.

 

The news that Nancy Pelosi was opening an impeachment inquiry over the Trump / Ukraine situation was a non-event market-wise. Stocks and bonds didn’t budge. Supposedly Trump will release the transcript of the call today, and will make the whistleblower available to Congress. We will see where this goes, but market-wise it will take a while to play out. Check out the chart of the S&P 500 during 1998 when the whole Bill Clinton impeachment situation was played out:

 

clinton

 

Here is a chart of the bond market during the same time period (10 year yield). Looks like we saw a drop in the 10 year of about 160 basis points peak to trough during the whole process. Note that this is a classic example of the old market saw “buy the rumor, sell the fact.” The market priced in impeachment before the votes even took place. If you got short on the votes, you got your head handed to you. If you bought the Treasury flight to safety in late summer of 98, when the whole thing was coming to a head, you were too late, and were on the wrong side of the trade by that point.

 

clinton bond

 

There was some slight movement in the Fed Funds futures for December, with the current odds at 22% no cut, 52%, a 25 basis point cut, and 26% chance of 50 basis points. Note that the repo market issues has been taken by the Fed that they don’t have as much leeway to shrink the balance sheet as they had anticipated.

 

Mortgage applications fell by 10% last week as purchases fell 3% and refis fell 15%. Rates were more or less flat at 4.01% last week, so the refi number is a surprise. That said, mortgage rates had risen about 20 basis points over the past few weeks, so maybe this was a catch-up phenomenon. Despite the back up in rates, the MBA estimates that 2019 will be the best year since 2016, with originations expected to hit $1.9 trillion.

 

Consumer confidence fell in September on trade fears and darkening expectations. The present conditions index fell but it was mainly future expectations that drove the decline.