Clearly there is nothing here at all to comfort the Fed.
More Quotes from Ian Shepherdson:
One steep drop in housing starts does not make a downward trend, especially in a month which was very wet in the West and very cold in the Northeast. Still, the data are consistent with other signs of a softening housing market, most notably the drop in homebuilders' confidence. What really matters, though, is whether sales will fall fast enough to turn a softening into a collapse.Ian Shepherdson
Not pretty, and getting worse.
Ian Shepherdson
There is a clear change in the tone of the Beige Book, but not all the news is good.
Ian Shepherdson
No doubt these numbers will be taken by the market as a clear sign of a softening housing market and, by implication, an indication that higher interest rates are biting. We are much more skeptical housing starts lag home sales, which have been depressed in recent months more by lack of inventory than by higher interest rates.
Ian Shepherdson
There is nothing to be scared of here. When you take out several one-time gains including apparel, tobacco and lodging, prices were almost unchanged.
Ian Shepherdson
The bottom line here is that the month-to-month volatility in the durable orders data is such that the true information content in a single report is very small -- there's just too much noise.
Ian Shepherdson
Readers Who Like This Quotation Also Like:
Actually, I loved Chucky. It's one of the strangest movies I've ever seen.Bill Condon
I love being on the road, I love playing.
Ben Harper
I don't think anybody can take the word of Saddam Hussein and his regime, and certainly an American president and allies who are obligated to worry about the safety and security of our countries, cannot take the word of this dictator, who lies, pathologically lies.
Condoleezza Rice