Stocks Up As Home Sales Look Good

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Home sales in July were perkier than expected and the news elevated the hopes of investors. Sentiment has bleak on Wall Street for weeks now, but the idea that maybe things are getting better was enough to excite some investors.

Stocks went from flat to higher early Friday after a stronger-than-expected reading on new homes sales for July. That followed a durable goods report that topped expectations.

“It’s really day-by-day with all this news,” said Nicholas Raich, director of equity research at National City Private Client Group in Cleveland, referring to economic data and concerns about faltering mortgages and upheaval in the credit markets. He said the latest economic readings boost a sense that the Federal Reserve isn’t likely to cut interest rates before its Sept. 18 meeting.

“Obviously the market is adjusting to that probably not occurring. There were fears just a few weeks ago that the U.S. housing woes were going to impact the global environment.”

Of course these sentiments are likely to change again soon. But for now, it looks as if the economy is weathering the storm and a global financial crisis is not likely to happen any time soon. For Wall Street today that translates into somewhat happy investors who are looking for bargains.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to the Superior Investor Blog RSS feed!.