Suitably Flip

Dow Loses 10,000 On Cruddy Housing Data

The market expected to see weakness in July's home sales, and stocks were already bleeding in early trading.  But it didn't expect this.

Sales of U.S. previously owned homes slumped more than forecast in July and the number of unsold houses swelled, evidence the market is depressed by foreclosures and limited job growth.

Purchases of existing homes plunged 27.2 percent to a 3.83 million annual rate, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The pace compares with the median forecast of a 4.65 million rate, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

A tax credit of up to $8,000 boosted sales earlier in the year, pulling forward demand and indicating additional advances will prove difficult.

On the news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 1.8% to 9,991, while the other major market indices did even worse.

Since the dawn of Recovery Summer, the Dow is off 4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have lost 6% and 8%, respectively.

Maybe John Boehner is on to something (HT: MM).

“President Obama should ask for – and accept – the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council,” Boehner says in the prepared remarks, which are scheduled for delivery at the City Club of Cleveland shortly after 8 a.m. The mass dismissal, he adds, “is no substitute for a referendum on the president’s job-killing agenda. That question will be put before the American people in due time. But we do not have the luxury of waiting months for the president to pick scapegoats for his failing ‘stimulus’ policies."

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Dow Loses 10,000 On Cruddy Housing Data

The market expected to see weakness in July's home sales, and stocks were already bleeding in early trading.  But it didn't expect this.

Sales of U.S. previously owned homes slumped more than forecast in July and the number of unsold houses swelled, evidence the market is depressed by foreclosures and limited job growth.

Purchases of existing homes plunged 27.2 percent to a 3.83 million annual rate, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The pace compares with the median forecast of a 4.65 million rate, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

A tax credit of up to $8,000 boosted sales earlier in the year, pulling forward demand and indicating additional advances will prove difficult.

On the news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 1.8% to 9,991, while the other major market indices did even worse.

Since the dawn of Recovery Summer, the Dow is off 4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have lost 6% and 8%, respectively.

Maybe John Boehner is on to something (HT: MM).

“President Obama should ask for – and accept – the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council,” Boehner says in the prepared remarks, which are scheduled for delivery at the City Club of Cleveland shortly after 8 a.m. The mass dismissal, he adds, “is no substitute for a referendum on the president’s job-killing agenda. That question will be put before the American people in due time. But we do not have the luxury of waiting months for the president to pick scapegoats for his failing ‘stimulus’ policies."