SkyIG

SKY News Summary 03-04-2010

Strong retail numbers are a very promising sign when combined with Tuesday’s ISM’s Manufacturing survey showing a growing backlog of orders.

The Mortgage Bankers Association released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 26, 2010, showing the Index increased 14.6 percent from one week earlier, due mainly to refinancing. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 69.1 percent of total applications from 68.1 percent the week before, as rates dropped to 4.95 percent from 5.03 percent.
http://www.mbaa.org/NewsandMedia/PressCenter/72000.htm

ADP reported that employment decreased 20,000 from January to February 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, and was the smallest drop since employment began falling in February of 2008. ADP’s numbers are not affected by the weather, but they do not include the hiring of temporary Census workers which will by included in the BLS estimate out tomorrow.
http://www.adpemploymentreport.com/

U.S. chain store sales rose by a strong 3.7% on a comparable store basis last month, remarkable given February’s weather. Target comparable-store sales, for example, rose 2.4 percent. Nordstrom’s same-store sales rose 10.3 percent in February.
http://www.icsc.org/homepage/research_article.php?id=112

http://investors.target.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=65828&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1398886&highlight=

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93295&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1398888&highlight=

Sources: MBAA, ADP, ICSC, Target, Nordstroms, and ISM websites.