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Consumer Confidence Wanes after 15-Year Spike

By Susanne Dwyer

Consumer confidence waned in January after spiking to a 15-year high in December, posting a 111.8 reading in The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®. The Expectations reading of the Index fell to 99.8, while the Present Situation reading rose to 129.7. December’s reading was 113.3.

“Consumer confidence decreased in January after reaching a 15-year high in December,” said Lynn Franco, director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. “The decline in confidence was driven solely by a less optimistic outlook for business conditions, jobs, and especially consumers’ income prospects.

“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, improved in January,” Franco said. “Despite the retreat in confidence, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the coming months.”

The percentage of consumers who believe business conditions are “good,” as defined by the Index, increased from 28.6 percent in December to 29.3 percent in January; the percentage of those who believe business conditions are “bad” decreased from 17.8 percent in December to 16.1 percent in January. The percentage of those who expect business conditions to improve decreased from 24.7 percent in December to 23.1 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect business conditions to worsen increased from 8.9 percent in December to 10.7 percent in January.

The percentage of consumers who believe jobs are “plentiful” increased from 26.0 percent in December to 27.4 percent in January, according to the Index; the percentage of those who believe jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 22.7 percent in December to 21.5 percent in January. The percentage of those who expect more jobs in the coming months decreased from 21.7 percent in December to 19.8 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect less jobs in the coming months was unchanged at 14.0 percent.

The percentage of consumers who expect higher income, as well, decreased from 21.5 percent in December to 18.0 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect less increased from 8.6 percent in December to 9.6 percent in January.

Source: The Conference Board

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From:: Finance and Economy

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Skyrocketing Rents Begin to Fizzle

By Susanne Dwyer

Skyrocketing rents will begin to fizzle in 2017, driven by a multifamily market marked by less starts and oversupply, according to the Freddie Mac Multifamily Research Group’s 2017 Multifamily Outlook.

“Demand for rental units is at a historic high due to demographic changes and lifestyle preferences, but increasing new supply and other factors are likely to moderate multifamily market growth in 2017,” says Steve Guggenmos, Freddie Mac Multifamily vice president of Research and Modeling. “In particular, landlords are likely to pull back on rent increases as new supply enters the market and vacancy rates rise.”

Rents are expected to grow at their 2016 pace; vacancy rates are expected to reach 5 percent for the first time since 2011.

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From:: Finance and Economy

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Flow MSR Offering Could Exceed $2 Bil in Loans

A concurrent flow servicing offering could work out to mortgage servicing rights on as much as $2.250 billion in government-sponsored enterprise loans.

The offering is for $125 million per month. The seller is looking for a 12-to-18 month future flow delivery with a minimum six-month commitment.

On a weighted-average basis, the FICO score on the home loans is 754, the original loan-to-value ratio is 79.0 percent, and the service fee is 0.25 percent.

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From:: Financing

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Dow regains 20,000 level as broader market ends firmly higher on bank rally

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow returning above the 20,000 level in a broad rally that lifted major indexes into positive territory for the week. The move higher followed a stronger-than-expected jobs report and news that President Donald Trump had taken steps to roll back financial industry regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Act. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was the biggest gainer among Dow components, jumping 4.6%, while J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. rallied 3.1%. The overall financial sector surged 2% as the top-performing sector of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 185.45 points, or 0.9%, to 20,070.43. The S&P 500 rose 16.43 points to 2,297.28, a rise of 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended 30.57 points higher at 5,666.77, a gain of 0.5%. For the week, the Dow dipped 0.1% while both the S&P and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News