Building Permits Plunge by Largest Amount in 17 Years
Housing, which had enjoyed record sales in both new and existing homes for five straight years, saw the boom end dramatically in 2006 with many formerly red-hot sales areas suffering big declines in sales and prices. The slump in housing has been a drag on the overall economy, pushing business growth down to a lackluster 1.3 percent.
Construction of new homes posted a small gain in April but applications for building permits plunged by the largest amount in 17 years, a dramatic sign that the nation's housing industry is still in a steep slump...
http://business.newsfactor.com…tml?story_id=1000098I4WDG
Brazil's real rises against dollar on cash flows
The Brazilian real led the charge as emerging market currencies notched up a series of multi-year highs against the dollar on Wednesday.
S&P crowned the bullish mood when it upgraded Brazil's sovereign debt rating. It raised Brazil's long-term local currency to the lowest investment grade rating...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/45ed18…dc-a931-000b5df10621.html
US National Satisfaction Level Dips to 25%, One of Lowest Since 1979
Americans have a lot to be frustrated with these days, such as U.S. struggles in Iraq, record-high gas prices, and emerging gridlock between the Democratic Congress and Republican president. A new Gallup Poll finds that only one in four Americans are currently satisfied with the state of the nation right now, one of the lowest satisfaction readings Gallup has measured. Americans continue to cite the Iraq war as the most important problem facing the nation by a wide margin over any other issue. Iraq has been the top issue on this list each month for three years running...
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=27601
Building permits drop to a 10-year low
Housing starts gain 2.5% in April to 1.53 million annual rate
U.S. builders pulled back on filing for permits to build homes in April, but started construction on more houses than they did in March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
In mixed data on the housing market, the government said building permits fell 8.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.429 million, the lowest since June 1997.
It was the largest percentage decline in 17 years. And it was much lower than the 1.51 million pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch...
http://www.marketwatch.com/new…%2DBA5B%2DEDB817BC5187%7D
Five Things You Need to Know...
Housing Off to a Good Start... on Planet Denial; Some Light Wednesday Reading; Large and In Charge; IMF Selling Gold Based on Mr. T Gold Indicator... We're Guessing; Kill Debt Now...
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/12852
The worst housing slump since the Great Depression
Willis Blackshear combs through Ohio mortgage filings looking for time bombs to defuse.
The Montgomery County recorder, who oversees real estate filings in Dayton, is searching for loans with balloon payments, or interest rates that may soon rise to unaffordable levels. He has found more than 3,100 in Montgomery where 540,000 residents possessed the state's second-highest foreclosure rate last year.
``It's crazy,'' said the 46-year-old Blackshear. ``I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad.''...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…d=afU.aOTMRdIc&refer=news
US economy's future gets darker : leading indicators sharply declined in April
The Conference Board announced today that the U.S. leading index decreased 0.5 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent and the lagging index increased 0.2 percent in April.
* The leading index decreased in April, and the small March increase was revised up as actual data for manufacturing new orders for nondefense capital goods became available. The leading index declined or remained the same in three of the last six months. As a result, from October to April, the leading index fell 0.2 percent (a -0.4 percent annual rate). In April, housing permits made the largest negative contribution, but the weaknesses among the leading indicators have been somewhat more widespread than the strengths over the past few months....
http://www.conference-board.or…sRelease_output.cfm?cid=1