DJIA: 28,992.40 (-1.38%)
NASDAQ: 9,577.00 (-1.58%)
S&P 500: 3,337.75 (-1.25%)
Gold: 1,646.60 (+3.79%)
Copper: 260.05 (+0.04%)
Crude Oil: 53.35 (+2.50%)
We have written a blog post on value investing that shows you how to use Stock Rover to find and then vet value stocks. You can read the post here…
Producer price inflation accelerated to a +0.5% increase in January after a +0.2% increase in December and a -0.1% decrease in November, with the yearly rate up +2.1% to its highest rate since May 2019. A +0.7% increase in final demand service prices accounted for 90% of the monthly increase and final demand goods prices only rose +0.1% for the month. Margins for apparel, jewelry, footwear and accessories retailing rose +10.3% for the month and accounted for 40% of the service increase. Goods prices were held down by a -0.7% drop in energy prices, and excluding the volatile food, energy and trade services sectors, the core producer price index rose +0.4% to its largest monthly increase since April 2019, and to a yearly rate of +1.5%.
New home construction in January slowed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.567 million units, a -3.6% drop from the previous month, but a +21.4% gain compared to January 2019. Single family construction slowed for the month in the Midwest by -15.1% and in the South by by -12.2%, but this was somewhat offset by gains in the smaller West (+14.2%) and Northeast (+3.1%) regions, limiting the nationwide slowdown in to a -5.9% drop, with the overall single family gain +4.6% for the year. Home completions fell -3.3% for the month to a 1.28 million unit rate, with a yearly gain of +1.5%, but permits for new construction grew +9.2% to an annual 1.551 million rate (+17.9% Y/Y), and are at their highest level since March 2007.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that home sales fell -1.3% in January to a 5.46 million annual rate, although sales were up +9.6% from January 2019. Home prices were up +6.8% for the year to a median $266,300, marking 95 consecutive months of yearly gains, with a NAR spokesman attributing continuing price growth to a lack of supply. Housing inventory was up +2.2% for the month to 1.42 million units, but down -10.7% for the year, and was at its lowest level since 1999. At the current rate of sales there is a 3.1 month supply of unsold inventory, which is an improvement from December’s 3.0 month supply, but down from 3.8 months a year previously.
Wednesday February 26 – New Home Sales
Thursday February 27 – Durable Goods Orders
