U.S. Stock Market
Week Ended February 17, 2012
The U.S. economic news continued to
brighten during the week. First, the number of Americans applying for
first-time unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in nearly four years;
most analysts had expected the number to rise. Second, housing starts picked
up, and buying a home is now the most affordable it has been in 20 years due to
falling home prices and rock-bottom mortgage rates. According to a widely
watched real estate index, families earning the national median income could
have afforded almost 76% of all new and exiting homes on the market in
December. Finally, U.S. consumer confidence rose for the fourth straight week
and reached the highest level in a year, according to the Bloomberg Consumer
Comfort Index. Unfortunately, the price to be paid for the improving economic
environment is higher inflation. Aside from volatile food and energy costs,
core producer prices registered their largest increase in six months in January
and could trend higher if the labor market continues to gain strength. The
overall consumer price index rose 0.2% in January—at
or slightly below most economists' expectations. U.S. Treasury yields ended the
week slightly higher.
|
U.S. Treasury Yields1 |
||
|
Maturity |
February 17, 2012 |
February 10, 2012 |
|
2-Year |
0.29% |
0.27% |
|
10-Year |
2.01% |
1.97% |
|
30-Year |
3.15% |
3.12% |
This table is for illustrative purposes
only. Past performance cannot guarantee future results.
1Source of data: Bloomberg.com, as of 4 p.m. ET Friday, February
17, 2012.