Tim Iacono's Contributions

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose 4.2 percent in May, the biggest increase in six months, to an annual rate of 5.18 million units, the fastest rate since late-2009 when government home buying incentives were in place.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with real estate prices in the months ahead as rising interest rates appear to have been the proximate cause of a buying stampede in many parts of the country that has resulted in prices moving sharply higher.

Ahead of tomorrow’s economic extravaganza known as the monthly labor report comes word that jobless claims fell from an upwardly revised 357,000 to 346,000 for the week ending June 1st, but the smoothed, four-week average rose for the third straight week.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the nation’s manufacturing sector contracted at the fastest pace in nearly four years, the overall index falling from 50.7 in April to 49.0 in May, below the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

The Commerce Department reported a modest downward revision to U.S. gross domestic product, from an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 2.4 percent during the first quarter of 2013 as the increase in inventories, exports, and imports were all lower than originally estimated.

One of the more fascinating ways to visualize the world’s growing pile of public and private debt comes via an interactive graphic in the online version of today’s Wall Street Journal.

In my visit back to Pennsylvania last week the subject of reverse mortgages came up on several occasions as more and more seniors have little recourse other than to tap their home equity in order to pay, primarily, medical bills.

More evidence that government and central bank policy makers don’t seem to know what they’re doing in their many attempts to right what is wrong in the global economy comes via this summary of the International Monetary Fund’s recent downgrades to forecasts for economic growth in this item at the Economist.

A trio of new surveys from Gallup point to a rapidly changing outlook by Americans on such topics as the economy, housing, and investment classes in general, real estate and precious metals in particular.

Commodity analyst and regular CNBC guest Dennis Gartman talks about the recent gold market sell-off, citing news that Cyprus may be forced to sell its gold as the proximate cause.

The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales contracted in March, their sharpest decline in nine months, as payroll tax hikes and government spending cuts may finally be taking a toll on consumer spending.

The Commerce Department reported that real economic growth in the U.S. during the last quarter of 2012 was revised upward to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.4 percent in its third and final reading for the period, up slightly from a 0.1 percent rate reported a month ago.

Standard & Poor’s reported that U.S. home prices saw year-over-year gains of 8.1 percent in January, the largest increase since June 2006, more evidence that super-low mortgage rates engineered by the Federal Reserve...

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose 0.8 percent last month, from an upwardly revised annual rate of 4.94 million units in January to 4.98 million in February, as both home prices and the number of homes for sale rose.

It is once again worth pointing out that not too much should be inferred from housing data at this time of the year due to dramatically lower activity in most of the country during the winter months and the outsized impact of seasonal adjustments.

The Labor Department reported that consumer prices surged 0.7 percent in February, the largest monthly increase in almost four years, as soaring gasoline prices combined with more modest increases in the cost of other goods and services.

The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers increased their payrolls by 236,000 in February, well above the consensus estimate for an increase of just 160,000, and the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent to 7.7 percent, the lowest level since December 2008.

It’ll be a week until we get another read on retail sales and it’s important to remember that, oftentimes, Americans do and say two very different things when it comes to consumer spending and consumer confidence, but the latest Gallup polling data on the latter is worthy of note.

The Commerce Department reported that real U.S. economic growth during the fourth quarter was revised higher, from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -0.1 percent to +0.1 percent, in the second of three estimates for the period. The final reading will be released in late-March.

Standard & Poor’s reported that the Case Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose in December, up 0.2 percent from November, and the index moved 0.9 percent higher after seasonal adjustments as shown below.