30. September 2007 by Ana Connell.

Monday 1

ISM Manufacturing Index Consensus-52.9 Survey of manufacturing firms that measure their sentiments on a variety of areas including employment, production, new orders and inventories.

3 & 6 Month Bill Auction

Tuesday 2

Pending Homes Sales Index-Release from NAR Gauges demand and momentum of housing market

ICSC-USB Store Sales Tracks comparable weekly sales from major retail chains and represents 10% of total retail sales. Is considered to be one of the most timely indicators of consumer spending.

Redbook a timely indicator of consumer spending and also represents about 10% of total retail sales. This measure tracks weekly sales from discounters, chain and department stores.

Motor Vehicle Sales Consensus 12.4M

4 Week Bill Auction

Wednesday 3

Challenger Job Cut Report Announced corporate layoffs.

MBA Purchase Applications-Measures Mortgage Lender applications, this is considered a leading indicator of single family home sales!

ADP Employment Report-National Employment report based on private payrolls

ISM Non Manufacturing Survey Consensus 54.5

EIA Petroleum Status Report-Measures petroleum inventories in the US

Thursday 4

Monster Employment Index Job availability compiled by Monsters from 1500+ websites.

BOE Announcement- Bank of England Monetary Policy

ECB Announcement- Interest Rate policy issued by European Central Bank

Jobless Claims Unemployment claims. Consensus 310K

EIA Natural Gas Report

Factory Orders Consensus -2.8%

3 and 6 month Treasury Bill Announcement, Treasury Strips Investors use this data to attempt to predict future Federal Reserve policy.Money Supply

Friday 6

Employment Situation-Set of labor market indicators

RBC Cash Index Monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the state of the economy. Consumer spending accounts for two thirds of the economy, so this tends to be an important index.

Consumer Credit
This report represents the overall value of outstanding consumer credit debt. Very simply put, if demand exceeds supply, interest rates rise.

Coming up this week is the ISM Manufacturing Index due out Monday. If that number comes in with a lower number than expected it could indicate further rate cuts by the Fed.

If you read my Week in Review post you have a sense of our current situation, which is not great. Having said that I will point out that recessions are usually acknowledged after they have started. It could very well be that we are in a recession already and that we’re feeling the worst of it.

Of note was the interview Bloomberg Television did with Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae in which he sees the bottom of the housing market hit towards the end of 2008.

Let’s hope he’s not right on this one. But if he is we all need to look at our business models and focus our energies appropriately. Even in a tough market people are still selling and buying.

Have a great week everyone!

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29. September 2007 by Ana Connell.

Last week was quite eventful.  We saw Existing Home Sales in August come slightly lower than expected, they came in at an annualized pace of 5.50M.  The big story, however, was the Home Inventory numbers at an all time high!  New Home Sales were down 8.3% to an annualized level of 795,000, lowest level in 7 years.

The Case-Shiller home price index fell by 3.9%, and the 10-city metro index fell 4.5% on a year-over-year basis.  This was the steepest drop in sixteen years according to this index.

Other items of note:

Rumors that Warren Buffet and a few Chinese banks were considering an “investment” in Bear Stearns……ummm, seems like a bail out to me.

GM and UAW strike came to an end.  UAW will now be managing the trust fund that is supposed to take care of the 275,000 retired GM workers.  Hopefully UAW will do a good enough job managing it so they don’t come asking for a bailout down the road!

Consumer Confidence fell to 99.8, much lower than expected, the number was supposed to come in at 104.3.

Personal Spending was up .6%.

Earnings warnings from Target and Lowes.

Both Goldman Sachs and Alan Greenspan made comments to the effect that they are concerned about a looming recession, so needless to say that was a damper on market activity.

As we close out the third quarter, it is interesting to note how eventful it was as we saw the subprime mess implode and take Bear Stearns, Countrywide, hedge funds with it as well as wreaking general havoc abroad.

More to come on Sunday when I put out the Week Ahead post!!!

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25. September 2007 by Ana Connell.

City of Burbank has a General Plan that sets out goals and is essentially a policy guide for growth and development.  Whatever is in this plan will serve as a blueprint for all future development.

The Planning and Transportation Devision is in the process of updating this plan and will hold a special City Council and Planning Board joint study session to discuss the housing element update.

According to state law this element has to be updated and what’s interesting is that Burbank has to show that it can plan for “it’s fair share” of housing based on regional needs.  One of the proposals is to increase residential densities, another is to allow residential in commercial areas and/or a blend of these two alternatives.

Either way, it’s an issue that directly affects our quality of life.

I do think that any proposals to increase housing densities needs to have an adequate transportation plan to go with it.  The inability to create a viable and executable transportation plan along with a housing density increase will negatively impact Burbank residents.

If you are interested in attending, here are the details:

Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Time: 6:00 p.m. (regular City Council meeting time)

Place: City Council Chamber, Burbank City Hall, 275 E. Olive Avenue, Burbank, California

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please tune into the local city channel (channel 6 on Charter Cable) for the live feed of the meeting.

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25. September 2007 by Ana Connell.

There are items from last week worth mentioning:

City Council approved new and revised energy efficiency programs for businesses and homes. What it means to you is that the city will be offering more rewards for energy efficient homes. Cm. Golonski dissented as he objected to the program’s inclusion of non-profit centers.
Items of note for this week:

Item 7 CONSIDERATION OF RESIDENT-ONLY PARKING PRIVILEGES ON EVERGREEN STREET NORTH OF MAGNOLIA BOULEVARD:

Item 8 PARKING CONDITIONS IN THE 300 BLOCK OF LOMITA STREET NEAR JORDAN MIDDLE SCHOOL:

Item 9 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CRITICAL WATER SHORTAGE:

Status report.

Item 10 FILM PERMIT POLICY:

Council to discuss policy and give direction for any future amendments.

Item 11 BALLOON REGULATION:

Explores whether the city can regulate mylar balloons due to the danger with power lines.

The Burbank City Council meets at City Council Chambers in City Hall, 275 E. Olive Ave. Tuesday at 6:00pm.

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24. September 2007 by Ana Connell.

Apparently the 818 area code will run out of numbers by 2009 due to the demand for cell phones! The California Public Utilities Commission is proposing splitting the San Fernando Valley into two pieces and have a new area code, 747, for part of the area.

The other option on the table , which they are calling the “overlay” option involves just giving new customers the 747 area code.

If you are interested in learning more about this issue, they will be holding public meetings.  The Burbank meeting will be at 7pm, October 22 at the Buena Vista Library.

This will be your opportunity to learn the details of the plan and voice any concerns you may have!

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