Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Oil futures fell on Monday for a second straight session. Traders continued to show concern that growth in U.S. crude production could potentially offset efforts by other major producers to rebalance global supply and demand. March West Texas Intermediate crude fell 54 cents, or 1%, to settle at $52.63 a barrel.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – President Donald Trump will add the Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to the National Security Council, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday. The CIA chief hasn’t been a member of the NSC since 2005 when the director of national intelligence was formed, he said. Over the weekend, Trump was criticized for including his chief strategist Steve Bannon on the NSC’s principals committee, while appearing to demote the director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some analysts said including Bannon would mix politics with military matters. Spicer said the reports were “utter nonsense” and director of the DNI and the Joint Chiefs chairman could attend principals meetings if they wished.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
The nation’s supply of residential homes for sale expanded last month, though it’s not clear if the improvement will continue into 2017.
An indication of upcoming existing home sales, the Pending Home Sales Index, landed at 109.0 during the final month of last year.
The seasonally adjusted index increased from 107.3 the prior month. It was also improved from an upwardly revised 108.7 a year prior.
From:: Financing
Gold futures finished higher Monday for the first time in five trading sessions. A steep decline in U.S. equities, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading below the key 20,000 level, and signs of growing U.S. inflation helped prices rebound. April gold rose $4.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,196 an ounce.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday morning to significantly roll back regulations, following through on claims that he would be “cutting regulation massively.” And Trump didn’t stop at reducing regulation, as the order also shows an added focus on reduced regulatory costs. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Affordability took a hit in November, according to First American, which tracks what it calls “real house prices.” But while real home prices saw an uptick for the month, reversing a six-month trend, First American’s chief economist explains home prices are still at their most affordable point in nearly two decades. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
While January is typically the slowest month of the year for real estate, the market remained strong at the start of 2017. Homes flew off the market faster than the previous year at home prices that were 10% higher than the previous year. Here are the top 10 markets for the start of the new year. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Although weekly home purchase financing activity moved higher, a reduction in the volume of refinance business pulled down overall new activity.
The U.S Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily, an indication of upcoming originations, was 119 in the week ended Jan. 27.
That was a 2 percent decline from the previous week for the index, which is determined based on average rate-lock volume by clients of OpenClose.
From:: Financing
General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. announced Monday the creation of a joint venture to mass produce hydrogen fuel cell systems to be used in “future products” from each company. The JV, named Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC, will operate at an existing GM battery plant in Michigan. Fuel-cell vehicles can operate on hydrogen from renewable sources such as wind and biomass, and water vapor is the only emission from fuel cell vehicles, the companies said. GM and Honda are making “a dramatic step toward lower cost, higher-volume fuel cell systems,” said Charlie Freese, GM’s executive director of Global Fuel Cell Business. A cross-functional team is developing advanced manufacturing processes and advances in the design, and the result “is a lower-cost system that is a fraction of the size and mass,” he said. Shares of GM were lower Monday, off 1.9%, while Honda’s American depositary shares were off 0.6%. The S&P 500 index lost 0.9%.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Walt Disney Co. rose slightly in early trade Monday before erasing their gains, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight and said distribution renewals for ESPN, new streaming bundles and a strong line-up of films should spur earnings growth. Analysts led by Benjamin Swinburne expect ESPN revenue growth to improve from 2017 to 2020, pushing their estimates above current consensus. The move will be helped by new streaming bundles, which are cheaper than existing ones and should end the roughly 2% subscriber erosion at the service over the last three years. “Film success remains the base case, and perhaps it should be,” they wrote in a note. Morgan Stanley is expecting Disney to rebound from the roughly 20% decline in earnings before interest and taxes caused by the comparisons in 2016 with the latest Star War’s installment and to post EBIT levels of $2.95 billion in 2018. “Demand for Disney-branded IP remains robust and the FY18 slate includes 4 Marvel films, 2 Star Wars films, and 2 Pixar films,” said the note. Disney shares have gained 14% in the last 12 months, underperforming the S&P 500 , which has gained about 19%.
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.
From:: Stock Market News