Kevin Hawkins's (kevinhawkins) Blog

HOW MUCH ARE WE BUYING, WHAT ARE WE PAYING AND HOW'S BUSINESS?... Wednesday's March Retail Sales are expected to show we consumers continue to buy more. We're also paying more, as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is forecast up a tad. But Core CPI is what the Fed focuses on, which excludes volatile...

Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates.  Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact TuApr 12 08:30 Trade Balance Feb -$45.7B -$46.3B Moderate WApr 13 08:30 Retail Sales M...

Those of us who think we can participate in a housing market recovery sooner rather than later just got welcome support from some industry experts. As reported by Fortune on CNNMoney.com, "After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing." Research f...

More economists are talking about the need for the Fed to tighten monetary policy by edging rates up. But few expect a hike in the funds rate until well into the second half, or even next year. Note: In the lower chart, a 1% probability of change is a 99% certainty the rate will stay the same. Cu...

Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates. It's a ligt week for news:Economic Calendar for the Week of April 4 - April 8  Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact TuApr 5 ...

ISM reports come from the Institute for Supply Management. Last week's ISM Manufacturing is considered by many economists to be the most reliable near-term economic barometer for that sector. This week's ISM Non-Manufacturing provides insight into the Services sector, representing over 80% of GDP...

The bond market last week was hurt by the renewed interest in stocks and the better than anticipated jobs report. The FNMA 4.0% bond we watch was off .02 for the week, closing at $98.10. National average rates for conforming mortgages edged up a bit according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey, but t...

It was a good week for investors who were encouraged by positive economic news, capped on Friday with a surprisingly upbeat March Employment Report. All three major stock market indexes were up again for the week, which began with signs the consumer's purchasing power is growing. For February, Pe...

Patience has certainly been needed to weather the ups and downs of the current U.S. housing market. But as we await strong recovery, we can take heart in positive signs when they show up. Last week we had the report that Pending Home Sales were up 2.1% in February. This measure of contracts on ex...

This week we take another look at where inflation is heading, featuring Monday's Core PCE Prices, the key reading for the Fed. This "Core" number takes out volatile food and energy prices, which have lately been on the rise, but without them, inflation is still within the Fed's target range, wher...