Mourning Report

RIP Jim (Guv'nor) Marshall - the man who made heavy guitar sound so awesome

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1388.0	-5.2	-0.37%
Eurostoxx Index	2373.3	-25.1	-1.05%
Oil (WTI)	101.66	0.2	0.19%
LIBOR	0.4692	0.000	0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	80.046	0.268	0.34%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	2.16%	-0.06%
RPX Composite Real Estate Index	170.92	0.3

Markets are continuing the sell-off that began when the Fed hinted that QEIII isn't going to happen. Bonds are up over a point and MBS are up half a point. Euro sovereign yields are wider again, and you are starting to see bids in bank credit default swaps, particularly in some of the traditional European ne'er do wells - Dexia and Intesa SanPaolo. Spain is the new one to watch.

Today is the first Thursday of the month, which means retailers are reporting same store sales for March. Generally, they appear to be strong, particularly in department stores and Men's / Women's apparel. Discounters and Teen Apparel were weaker with some exceptions (Zumiez and Target). Overall, the numbers look good and a few took up Q1 earnings estimates. The "yes. but..." is that March had some unseasonably warm weather, and that undoubtedly helped get people out of the house and into the stores.

Initial Jobless Claims came in at 357k. Continuing Claims were 3,338k.

REO asset managers may want to watch this developing situation - allegations of discrimination regarding the maintenance and upkeep of homes in minority neighborhoods. The National Fair Housing Alliance put out a report alleging that REO properties in predominantly minority neighborhoods lack "for sale" signs, have boarded-up windows, and trash, as opposed to REO in white neighborhoods. This study was put out with a grant from HUD and will undoubtedly be fodder for a lawsuit.

The US is far behind on reforming the country's housing finance system, Geithner said at a speech at the Chicago Economic Club. The reality is that our current housing finance system is more or less nationalized and we are far from being in the position to have private capital carry the load.

The Census Bureau released a study discussing the changes in growth patterns since 2010. Interestingly, of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas over the last decade, only 24 were still in the top fifty since the 2010 census. Unsurprisingly, the areas most affected by the real estate boom fell out (Las Vegas, Palm Coast FL) fell out of the top 50 and it appears some of the energy-centric areas (TX, ND) are entering.