We don’t Need Stinking Rounding.

MBA Mortgage Applications  (week ended 12/4/2015)

– Purchase Index Week/Week +0.04%. Previous weeks were +8.0%, -1.0%, +12.0%, +0.1%, -1.0%, -3.0%, +16.0%, -34.0%, +27.0%, -6.0%, +9.0%, -4.0%, and -1.0%.

– Refinance Index Week/Week +4.0%. Previous weeks were -6.0%, -5.0%, +2.0%, -2.0%, -1.0%, -4.0%, +9.0%, -23.0%, +24.0%, -8.0%, +18.0%, and -9.0%.

– Composite Index Week/Week +1.2%. Previous weeks were -0.2%, -3.2%, +6.2%, -1.3%, -0.8%, -3.5%, +11.8%, -27.6%, +25.5%, -6.7%, +13.9%, and -7.0%.

The most interesting part of this data is that MBA decided to release data showing a +0.04% gain in Purchase Applications rather than rounding as always to the first decimal which would have shown +0.0%. Never underestimate the creativity of we folks in the mortgage business.

Year-on-year, Purchase Applications are +29%.

 

 

Wholesale Trade (October 2015)

– Inventories month/month -0.1%. Previous was +0.2%.

This is a GDP component.  This is only the second negative reading since August 2013. Inventories always shows two things 1) expectations of what consumers will purchase and 2) corrections

to discrepancies between previous expectations and reality.