Consumer Confidence

May 27, 2025 . The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence jumped 12.3 points in May to 98.0 after having fallen  8.2 points in April, 6.2 points in March and 5.2 points in February.  After hitting a peak in November confidence plunged for five months in a...

Case Shiller Index of Home Prices

May 27, 2025 The seasonally adjusted Case Shiller Index of Home Prices in 20 cities declined 0.1% in March after having risen 0.4% in February.  Prices have risen 4.1% in the past year. The National Index which is a slightly broader measure of home price increases...

Durable Goods Orders

May 27, 2025 Durable goods orders fell 6.3% in April after having risen  7.6% in March.   Durable goods orders have risen 3.2% in the past year.  The big increase in March and the corresponding drop in April almost entirely reflected changes in civilian aircraft...

The Focus Shifts

May 23, 2025 All of a sudden the issue of tariffs has yielded to concern about budget deficits, debt, and rising interest rates. The catalyst for the change in focus was the combination of the credit rating downgrade of Treasury debt by Moody’s, and the 2025 budget...

New Home Sales

May 23, 2025 New home sales jumped 10.9% in April to 743 thousand after  having risen 2.6% in March.  In the past year new home sales have risen 3.3%.   New home sales can be volatile from month to month, but it seems clear that they are in a gradual uptrend. Mortgage...