Forecast For The Week 

Several important economic reports will be released this week, including news on consumer spending, inflation and manufacturing.

• A very important report that gauges consumer spending is Tuesday’s Retail Sales data. Consumer spending makes up almost 70% of Gross Domestic Product, so spending decisions will surely influence the direction of the U.S. economy.
• In the manufacturing sector, the Empire State Index from New York and Philadelphia Fed Index will both be released on Thursday. In addition, Industrial Production will be delivered on Friday.
• Inflation data in the form of the Consumer Price Index will be released on Friday and carries a bit more weight than Thursday’s Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level.
• Initial Weekly Jobless Claims will be released on Thursday. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits is at four-year lows.
• The last bit of data for the week comes Friday with Consumer Sentiment.

In addition to those reports, the Fed’s statement will be released Tuesday afternoon after the FOMC meeting. Depending on what the Fed says in that statement, Bonds and home loan rates could be impacted.

Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.

As discussed above, when it comes to February’s Jobs Report, the headline number and some of the sub-components of the Jobs Report were positive. However, overall the report is being viewed as an okay read and one of more modest improvement. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this week’s economic reports, and what they might mean for home loan rates.

The Mortgage Market Guide View  

Pinterest…for Business?

Social media has been all the buzz the last few years in the business world. Facebook and Twitter have become important tools for connecting with potential clients…and LinkedIn has turned networking into a virtual reality.

But with all the new social media sites and tools popping up, it’s hard to know what new sites to adopt. One site that may seem to fly under the radar as being less focused on business is the social media site Pinterest.

Pinterest is an image-based social network that lets you create a virtual bulletin board. In other words, it’s an online “pin board” that lets you organize and share interesting things that you find on the Internet. While that may not sound very business like, the number of hits that the site has been getting may pique your interest.

For example, Pinterest is now one of the top 10 social networking and forum websites. In addition, Pinterest raised $37 million in funding last year and has an unconfirmed valuation of up to $200 million. And Pinterest has been reaching 7 million to 10 million visitors a month in the US alone.

Those stats are drawing more and more people to explore Pinterest as a business tool. And for people who work in the housing and financial industries, Pinterest can actually make a lot of sense. This is especially true when you consider the connection between images and the topics of homes, home improvements, decorating, and so on! After all, people are always looking for ideas and inspiration for their homes. Just imagine how many past clients and potential clients would follow your images related to housing.

That’s why so many business people are now starting to use Pinterest as a way to engage with customers…to boost their social media presence by connecting their sites…and to get more out of their online marketing efforts.

It’s the perfect way to connect with potential clients in a way that keeps you top-of-mind in a professional yet friendly way. If you’re interested in Pinterest for business, take a look at the following links that can help you get started with ideas and tips:

• What is Pinterest?
• 26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business
• Boost Your Business with Pinterest

Remember, if a picture is worth a thousand words, think about how many “words” you’ll be able to share with potential clients on a site like Pinterest.

 

Economic Calendar for the Week of March 12 – March 16

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Tue. March 13	08:30	Retail Sales	Feb	0.1%		0.4%	HIGH
Tue. March 13	08:30	Retail Sales ex-auto	Feb	0.7%		0.7%	HIGH
Tue. March 13	02:15	FOMC Meeting	Mar			.25%	HIGH
Thu. March 15	08:30	Core Producer Price Index (PPI)	Feb	0.2%		0.4%	Moderate
Thu. March 15	08:30	Producer Price Index (PPI)	Feb	0.5%		0.1%	Moderate
Thu. March 15	08:30	Empire State Index	Mar	15.0		19.5	HIGH
Thu. March 15	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	3/10	358K		362K	Moderate
Thu. March 15	10:00	Philadelphia Fed Index	Mar	12.5		10.2	HIGH
Fri. March 16	08:30	Consumer Price Index (CPI)	Feb	0.4%		0.2%	HIGH
Fri. March 16	08:30	Core Consumer Price Index (CPI)	Feb	0.2%		0.2%	HIGH
Fri. March 16	09:15	Industrial Production	Feb	0.5%		0.0%	Moderate
Fri. March 16	09:15	Capacity Utilization	Feb	78.8%		78.5%	Moderate
Fri. March 16	10:00	Consumer Sentiment Index (UoM)	Mar	76.0		75.3	Moderate

 

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