Update: New Home Sales rise 0.3% in April, March revised to show a SERIOUS SLIDE in March dropping 3.00%…Market Movers Thursday: Economic Data; Treasury Auctions, Fed Buying

Update 2: New Home Sales rose a mere 0.3% in April… Pffffft!!, and March revised lower, but of course!:

The Commerce Department said sales rose 0.3 percent to a 352,000 annual pace, from a downwardly revised 351,000 in March. March sales were revised to show a 3 percent decline, which had been reported as a 0.6 percent slide. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales at a 360,000 rate in April…

Update: Economic Data in– Jobless claims drop but continuing claims hit yet another record, Treasury action later today:

The Labor Department reports that the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 623,000, from a revised figure of 636,000 in the previous week. That was below analysts’ expectations of 635,000.

..The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits increased to 6.78 million, the largest total on records dating back to 1967 and the 17th straight record week…

Durable goods orders rise but past numbers revised lower, anyone see a pattern emerging?

April’s 1.9 percent increase in durable goods orders was the biggest percentage advance since December 2007, when orders rose 4.1 percent, the Commerce Department said.However, March orders were revised sharply lower, falling 2.1 percent from the previously reported 0.8 percent decline…

Durable good orders, new home sales and weekly jobless claims data Thursday morning.

..Weekly claims are expected to come in at 625,000, down from last week’s 637,000…

Art Cashin on Treasury auction Thursday:

…”The one I’m most worried about” is Thursday’s Treasury auctions, Cashin said. “It’s kind of a strange one,” as the Federal Reserve is expected to buy Treasurys that will mature in three to five years.

• Bonds/Treasurys Prices and Yields
• Credit Spreads and LIBOR

Wednesday’s spike in yields, especially on the 10 yr, concerns over dropping refis as mortgage rates climb with the long end of the curve and the apparent failure of the FED quantitative easing to control mortgage rates, they cant control the long end, inflation is coming ….

CNBC:

…A selling spree in Treasurys pushed rates higher, taking the yield curve to its steepest on record as spreads between the 2-year and 10-year widened by over a dozen basis points on Wednesday alone.The 10-year saw its yield move above 3.70 percent, after trading at 3.55 percent the previous day. The selling wave hit bonds shortly after 1 p.m., even after the auction of $35 billion in 5-year notes was well received…

..Traders are bracing for more of the same Thursday. The Treasury is auctioning another $26 billion in notes, this time 7-years. The heavy issuance – more than $100 billion this week alone – has been pressuring the market…

May 27, 2009. Tags: deficit spending, Dire Straits, Economy, FEDERAL RESERVE, Housing, Inflation, long end yield curve, New Home Sales, New home sales April, new home sales March, refis, Treasury Auction, Treasurys, Weekly jobless claims. Economy, Foreclosures, Housing, Labor Department, Uncategorized, Unemployment Statistics, Wall St. Comments off.