| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1381.5 | -2.1 | -0.15% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2331.1 | -35.9 | -1.52% |
| Oil (WTI) | 104.3 | 0.1 | 0.06% |
| LIBOR | 0.466 | 0.000 | 0.00% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 79.78 | 0.307 | 0.39% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 1.99% | -0.01% | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 172.2 | -0.2 |
Equity markets are slightly weaker this morning on a disappointing earnings report from Intel. IBM and Yahoo also reported last night. Abbott Labs and Halliburton beat estimates this morning. Spanish bond yields are lower. Bonds and MBS are slightly higher. No economic data this morning.
Part of the reason for the strong market rally yesterday was a strong Spanish bond auction. Many have noted that the Spanish banks have been large buyers of Spanish government debt. Bill Gross called the market "artificially controlled" on CNBC, and he doesn't trust it. Bloomberg notes the bad debt exposure for Spanish banks, and the possibility for the government to take on contingent liabilities. Spain has the 12th largest GDP in the world (Greece is something like 35th), so don't think a crisis would be a repeat of last fall.
Housing advocates are worried that a President Romney will take aim at HUD. Of course HUD could remain as the alphabet soup of government housing agencies get re-organized. For all intents and purposes, the US mortgage market is nationalized, and while the GSEs may go away in name, their function will be handled by some other entity. It would take roughly 500 billion to fully capitalize the GSEs and that kind of money can't be raised in the private sector.
US Bancorp is noting that demand for credit is increasing. CEO Richard Davis told CNBC yesterday that mortgage demand was the highest in the bank's history. The Minneapolis-based bank had reported better than expected numbers earlier that morning. So, this is one positive data point to throw in the mix of negative ones we have been seeing lately.
Ever done a quick fix on your home with the intention of doing a full repair later, but never got around to it? Here are some good ones (note the uses of hockey pucks)
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