Fundamentals 10/27: GDP, Europe, Jobs, Pending Home Sales

Eurozone
The fact that some solution was reached regarding Greek debt is positive but: (1) there are four more countries to deal with and (2) the long term macroeconomic effects are still unknown.

GDP
-First of three 3Q2011 GDP was +2.5%
-This was right at expectations
-Previous quarter was +1.3%
-Final Sales of domestic products were +3.6% (annualized)
-This uptick was seen by Consumer Metrics starting mid-June.
-Consumer Metrics sees a flattening of this growth as we start 4Q so 3Q could be a one time blip.
-Second of three releases is November 22

Initial Jobless Claims
-402,000 for the week ended October 22
-Down 2,000 from previous week’s revised 404,000
-4-week moving average was 405,500, up 1,750 from previous week
-This is the story of a jobless and weak recovery.

Pending Home Sales (September 2011)
-NAR Pending Home Sales Index 84.5
-This is for homes going into contract, not closings
-Down 4.6% in September, following 1.2% drop in August
-Up 6.4% from September 2010
-NAR’s full pending home sales report
-Given where we have been and where rates are this is an indication that the housing sector remains very weak.