Market Update Report 3/19/2013 | Beacon Rock Wealth Advisors

The KUIK Market Update for Tuesday, March 19:

Markets are up.

Index	Direction	Change	Units	Last	Time	Change
Dow	Up	24	points	14,476	7:43 AM
S&P500	Up	0.03%	percent	1,553		0.46	points
Nasdaq Composite	Up	0.02%	percent	3,238		0.71	points
30 Year Treasury	Down	(3)	Basis Points	3.15	Annual Yield

Homebuilding is up. The Commerce Department reports construction on new U.S. homes rose 0.8% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000. That’s the highest level since December. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected construction starts in February to rise to a rate of 913,000 from an original January estimate of 890,000. The government upwardly revised January’s starts rate to 910,000.

Tthe U.S. housing market saw negative equity narrow at the end of 2012, according to a report CoreLogic . Negative equity is when a borrower owes more on a mortgage than a home is worth. It narrowed $42 billion to reach $628 billion at the end of the fourth quarter down from $670 billion at the end of the third. About 21.5% of all homes with a mortgage had negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 22%. Just five states account for almost one-third of homes underwater: Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. In all of these states more than 30% of mortgaged properties had negative equity.

The Cyprus situation is not helping the gold market which is usually a safe haven. Marketwatch April gold is off $1.40 to $1,603.60 an ounce on the New York Merc.



Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feburary-home-construction-rises-modestly-2013-03-19
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/negative-home-equity-narrows-in-fourth-quarter-2013-03-19
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-hovers-above-1600-amid-tough-call-on-cyprus-2013-03-19


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