In The News...

Initial Jobless Claims fell 27,000 in the latest week to 451,000 and below the 470,000 that was expected and was the lowest number since the week of July 9. The 4-week moving average was 477,750, a decrease of 9,250. Continuing Claims fell 2,000 to 4.479 million. States reported 4.510 million persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Aug. 21, a decrease of 35,000 from the prior week. The Treasury will sell $13B in 30-Year Bonds today with the results to be released at 1:00pm ET. This will complete the Treasury's $67 billion in funding for the week. Mortgage Bonds, which tend to influence home loan rates, are falling today for the 5th time in 6 trading days as investors look to take profits after the Bond market's recent gains. Mortgage Bonds and home loan rates have an inverse relationship. Consumers cut back on their credit card spending for 23 consecutive months ending in July as reported by the federal Reserve on Wednesday. Borrowing on credit cards fell 6.3% in July after a bigger 7.5% June decline. Toy "R" Us announced today that it will open 600 temporary holiday stores in malls and shopping centers around the country and hopes to hire 10,000 workers to run the "Express" stores.

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