Market Update Report 3/16/2015

March 16, 2015
The KUIK Market Update for Monday, March 16:
Markets are up.
Index Direction Change Units Time Change
Dow Up                    178 points           17,928 8:21 AM
S&P500 Up 1.0% percent             2,074      20.97
Nasdaq Composite Up 1.0% percent             4,918      46.33
30 Year Treasury Down                      (5) Basis Points               2.65 Annual Yield
Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in February, according to the Federal Reserve. Economists expected a 0.3% rise. Details were weak. January was revised to a negative 0.3% down from the prior estimate of a 0.2% gain. In February, manufacturing output fell 0.2% for  the third straight monthly drop.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing-market index fell 2 points to 53 in March. That’s the third monthly drop in a row and the lowest level since July. Readings above 50 mean that builders are optimistic. “The drop in builder confidence is largely attributable to supply chain issues, such as lot and labor shortages as well as tight underwriting standards,” said NAHB chief economist David Crowe.  He says sales should pick up as the weather warms and an improved economy drums up more demand for housing “buoyed by sustained job growth, low mortgage interest rates, and pent-up demand.”
April crude is off 1.9% to $44 a barrel on the New York Merc as traders focus on a growing supply glut and dismissed a report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries forecasting a drop in U.S. output by the end of the year.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/industrial-production-inches-up-01-in-february-2015-03-16
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-builders-index-falls-to-53-in-march—lowest-since-summer-2015-03-16
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-extends-losses-us-crude-drops-below-45-a-barrel-2015-03-16
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