Mortgage applications increased 23.1% from the previous week, signaling positive signs in the housing market. Unemployment claims decreased by 50,000 to 352,000, the lowest level since 2008, indicating companies are slowing firings and beginning to hire more. Oil demand fell for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008-2009 due to mild winter weather, high crude prices, and the European economic crisis.

1. I s su e 13 , Vo lu me 3 / J an u ar y 2 0, 2 012
Positive Signs Abound The Week Ahead -> The “Keys”
Tim McLaughlin - The FOMC, the State of the Union, and Housing Data
Mortgage applications increased 23.1% from one week
earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Date Economic Release Prediction Last
Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
for the week ending Jan. 13. The data includes an 1/24 Richmond Fed Manufacturing 5 3
adjustment for New Year's Day.
1/24 State of the Union Address - -
The MBA market composite index increased 23.1% on a
seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an 1/25 MBA Mortgage Applications - 23.1%
unadjusted basis, the index increased 38.1% compared with
1/25 House Price Index (MoM) - -0.2%
the previous week.
1/25 Pending Home Sales (MoM) 1.0% 7.3%
====================
1/25 Pending Home Sales (YoY) - 6.9%
Fewer Americans than forecast filed first time applications
for unemployment benefits last week, easing concern that 1/25 FOMC Rate Decision 0.25% 0.25%
post-holiday firings were on the rise.
1/26 Chicago Fed Nat Activity - -0.37
Claims plunged by 50,000 to 352,000 in the week ended
1/26 Cap Goods Shipped - -1.0%
Jan.14, the lowest level since April 2008, Labor Department
figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 1/26 Durable Goods Orders 1.8% 3.7%
41 economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected
384,000. The four-week average, which smoothes out 1/26 ex Transportation 1.0% 0.3%
fluctuations, decreased to 379,000 last week from 382,500.
1/26 Cap Goods Orders - -1.2%
Companies are slowing the pace of firings and beginning
1/26 Initial Jobless Claims - 352K
to step up the pace of hiring even as a slump in Europe
spurred by a default crisis may limit U.S. growth. The 1/26 Continuing Claims - 3432K
improvement may be a sign that companies are looking to
expand their workforces as sales climb. 1/26 BB Consumer Comfort - -47.4
==================== 1/26 Leading Indicators 0.7% 0.5%
Oil demand is falling for the first time since the 2008-2009 1/26 New Home Sales 320K 315K
global financial crisis as a result of a mild winter, high crude
1/26 New Home Sales (MoM) 1.6% 1.6%
prices and the European economic crisis, according to fresh
estimates from the International Energy Agency. 1/26 KC Fed Manufacturing - -4
The industrialized nations’ watchdog said oil demand
dropped by 300,000 barrels a day in the final quarter of 1/27 GDP (QoQ – Annualized) 3.0% 1.8%
2011. Such a fall is rare: over the last decade, oil demand
has posted drops only in the financial crisis of mid-2008 to 1/27 GDP Price Index 2.0% 2.6%
mid-2009. The end game on the supply/demand curve is as
demand falls, so, too, should prices. 1/27 Core PCE (QoQ) 0.9% 2.1%
1/27 Personal Consumption 2.3% 1.7%
====================
1/27 U of Michigan Confidence 74.0 74.0
The spring market is around the corner…we can help!
Mortgage Access Corp. d/b/a Weichert Financial Services, Executive Offices, 225 Littleton Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950. 1-800-829-CASH. NMLS Company ID: 2731. Licensed by the NJ Dept of Banking and Insurance. Licensed Mortgage
Banker with the State Dept of Banking in NY and CT. Licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, Mortgage Lender 21042. Licensed Lender in AK, AR, DE, MD, D.C., GA, ME, MI, MN, WI, IA, IL, IN, LA, VT, FL, WV, RI, KY, NC,
ID, MS, NE, WY, OK,TN, WA. Licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission, License #ML105. Licensed Mortgage Lender in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. License #ML1713, Certificate #43155. Certificate of Authority to
transact business in CO, SC. Registered Mortgage Lender in TX. Licensed with the Financial Institutions Division in New Mexico, License # 01297. Licensed by the Department of Corporations under the California Residential Mortgage
Lending Act. Licensed Mortgage Broker and Lender Ohio. Licensed Loan Broker and Lender Rhode Island. Kansas Licensed Mortgage Company, License #MC.0001229. Licensed by the New Hampshire Banking Department, License #
8714-MB. Licensed Oregon Mortgage Lender License #ML2528. Weichert Financial Services arranges loans with third-party providers. Equal Housing Lender.