Plymouth, MN

Initial unemployment claims hit their lowest level since January. Retailers post better-than-expected same-store sales. Cisco CEO sees recovery building.

Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Thursday, November 5, 2009 9:59 AM

Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET 

Stocks were surging today as bulls took this morning's economic data as another sign of a recovery. 

At 1:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average($INDU) had gained 168 points to 9,970. The NASDAQ Composite Index ($COMPX) had added 43 points to 2,099, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was up 16 points to 1,063. 

The gains came after the Labor Department this morning said initial jobless claims fell 20,000 to 512,000 last week -- the lowest level since January -- and a report that showed that U.S. productivity rose at the fastest pace in six years in the third quarter. 

Crude oil fell 49 cents to $79.91 a barrel this afternoon. Gold was trading at $1,089 an ounce after hitting a record high of $1,097.72 on Wednesday. 

Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their key lending rates on hold this morning. The Federal Reserve did the same on Wednesday.

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Autumn Festival, An Arts & Crafts Affair!

Over 500 of the nation's finest artists and crafters display and sell their handcrafted works. Voted one of the top 100 shows in the country according to Sunshine Artist Magazine. Hourly gift certificate drawings, stage entertainment, food & drink, lots of family fun!

Tags: arts, crafts, festivals Creator:  hpifestivals

Additional Information Time: Thursday, Nov 12 11:00a to 9:00p
Location: Shakopee, MN, Canterbury Park, 1100 Canterbury Rd. South, Shakopee, MN, 55379                                        

1-Click Directions
Price: $8 Adults; $7 Seniors; Children under 10 are free.           

Reservations required  Event Website:

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youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/midwesthomeloans

blog: http://www.homeloansmidwestblog.com/

Explore the sites of nightclubs, kidnappings, and gun battles associated with 1930s gangsters like John Dillinger, Ma Barker and Babyface Nelson.

Tags: caves, st. paul, historical tours   

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Additional Information Time: Saturday, Nov 7 12:00p
Location: St Paul, MN, 215 Wabasha St. South, St Paul, MN, 55107

Venue: Wabasha Street Caves 

1-Click Directions
Price: $22/person.

Reservations required  Event Website:

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The national housing supply fell to a 2-year low last month, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

At the current sales pace, existing home inventories would sell out in 7.8 months -- 30 percent faster versus November 2008.

For a 10-month window, that's a major housing supply reduction and it helps to explain why multiple-offer situations have been so common lately.

Moreover, the same report from NAR showed sales activity reaching its highest point since July 2007, too.

If you're looking for evidence that the long-standing Buyers Market is ending, this month's Existing Home Sales report might be it.

Even median sales prices -- typically dragged lower by distressed and foreclosed properties -- declined at its slowest pace in a year.  The market may have turned a corner.

Home prices are rooted in the basic economics of supply and demand.

• When supply outweighs demand, home prices fall.
• When supply lags demand, home price rise.

Since March 2009, the market has been moving in the right direction.  Low mortgage rates, ample housing supply and a first-time home buyer tax credit fueled buy-side demand so that home prices are now rising in many U.S. markets.

If home supplies stay on this path into 2010, expect home prices to rise even more.

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Mortgage markets were volatile last week, making it very difficult to shop for mortgage rates.

On most days, lenders issued multiple rate sheets with the trend putting rates higher in the morning, and lower in the afternoon.

Overall, mortgage rates were unchanged on the week. It broke a three-week streak through which mortgage rates rose.

Rates remain roughly one-half percent higher than the lows of early-October.

The biggest positive for rate shoppers last week was tame economic data -- specifically concerning the Producer Price Index and the housing sector.

The Producer Price Index is an inflationary, Cost of Living-like measurement for businesses and it went negative in September. Analysts weren't expecting that and the surprise pulled rates down an eighth.

Similarly, in housing, both the Home Price Index and Housing Starts figures were softer than expectations. These, too, tugged mortgage rates down.

At least temporarily.

We say "temporarily" because -- all week long -- a steadily-weakening U.S. dollar was leading mortgage rates higher.

All things equal, mortgage rates rise as the dollar loses value and, last week, the dollar touched a 14-month low versus the Euro. The greenback's weakness countered most of the "positive" news for rate shoppers and is a major reason why rates were so volatile.

The volatility should continue into this week, too. With little data and no Fed speakers, look for mortgage rates to move with the market's momentum.

Lately, momentum has been pulling rates higher so if you're floating a rate and trying to time a bottom, the chances are good that we already passed it. Consider locking your rate before rates rise much further.

Once rates break 6 percent, they may not come back down.

website: http://www.homeloansmidwest.com/

youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/midwesthomeloans

blog: http://www.homeloansmidwestblog.com/