30. November 2007 by Ana Connell.

This week saw volatile trading sessions, again, with the Dow down 237 points on Monday, up 217 points on Tuesday, up 332 points on Wednesday, up 20 points on Thursday and up 60 on Friday. Concerns over credit woes continued as well as rumors of Citigroup layoffs.

Items of note:

• New Home Sales for October rose by 1.7%, but that figure is misleading as September sales, originally reported at a 770k annual pace were decreased to 716k, October sales came in at 728k, which although lower than expected looked better than it was due to the September revisions.
• The Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed a year to year decline of 4.5%.
• Existing Home Sales fell to an annualized pace of 4.97M in October, lowest level since 1999, with inventory levels at a 8.5 month supply, year to year sales were down 24%. “This looks like it’s going to be the deepest correction of any housing correction since World War II, and the question really is, ‘What’s the duration, how long will it be?’” Centex CEO Timothy Eller…..it will be interesting to see if he is right.
• Fed Chairman Bernanke spoke and gave hints of another rate cut in December.
• Personal Spending and Income report showed that consumer spending was flat.
• Weekly Jobless Claims came in higher than expected at 352k this has been a trend for a few weeks and I’m sure the writer’s strike is making it’s contribution.
• Treasury Secretary Paulson is trying to get major banks and mortgage servicers to freeze rates on adjustable rate mortgages.
• Crude oil declined below $90 per barrel.

With weak dollar and inflation concerns continuing the Dow ended the week up 392 points or 3% based on the idea that having reached the 10% decline or correction level will set the stage for a year end rally and of course that the Fed will keep cutting rates.

Have a great weekend!

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26. November 2007 by Ana Connell.

Monday 26

3 & 6 Month Bill Auction

2 & 5 Year Note Announcement

Tuesday 27

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.

Consumer Confidence Consensus 90.5

4 Week Bill Auction

Wednesday 28

Existing Home Sales-consensus 4.95M….. Last month sales fell 8.0% , down 19.1% from September 2006. Housing supply for September was at 10.5 months, highest level since 1999.

Durable Goods Orders Consensus .3%-This number was down 1.7% in September and posted a sharp revised 5.3% drop in August. This report takes into account the current and future number of orders placed with factories. By showing how busy factories will be in the coming months you can get an indication of economic activity and health of the overall economy.

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

EIA Petroleum Status Report-Measures petroleum inventories in the US2 Year Note Auction

Beige Book -This is a report that comes out approximately two weeks before each Federal Reserve meeting. It gives a picture of the current economic situation and can provide some hints as to future rate policy.

Thursday 29

New Home Sales Consensus 753,000 Home sales fell 7.9% in August and rebounded 4.8% in September.

GDP-The broadest measure of economic activity that takes all sectors of the economy into account.

Help Wanted Index

Corporate Profits

Jobless Claims Unemployment claims. Consensus 330k

EIA Natural Gas Report

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

5 Year Note Auction

Money Supply

Friday 30

Personal Income Outlays-Consumer spending Consensus is .4% Another measure to gauge consumer spending power.

Construction Spending- Good indicator of the

NAPM-Chicago-Business conditions in the Chicago area, another measure of economic growth.

Farm Prices

Coming up this week:

The focus will be on this weekend’s retail activity, financial sector news and the housing data!

Have a great week everyone!

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22. November 2007 by Ana Connell.

Ever wonder about turkey pardons? Well, I did and thought I would do some research on the subject.

Some think the tradition started with Abraham Lincoln pardoning his son’s pet turkey, others believe it started much later with Harry S. Truman. Although both of these versions have been referenced in many places there really is no firm proof of either story’s veracity.

It’s believed that sometime around 1947 the National Turkey Federation gave the President of the United States one live turkey and two dressed turkeys. The live turkey is pardoned and is supposed to live out the rest of its days on a peaceful farm.

More recently it was thought prudent to have two turkeys pardoned, in case the original turkey becomes “unavailable” for presidential pardoning. I took that to mean a more pressing engagement.

In 2003 we were all asked to vote on what the names should be for these two turkeys and the voting has become an annual tradition.

Past names have included:

Stars and Stripes (2003)

Biscuit and Gravy(2004)

Marshmallow and Yam (2005)

Flyer and Fryer(2006)

May and Flower(2007).

The two turkeys are then flown first class, yes, first class(we pay for this folks) on United Airlines from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles where they become the Grand Marshals of Disneyland’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade down Main Street.

The two turkeys then live out the rest of their lives in Disneyland’s Frontierland ranch.

On that note, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

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22. November 2007 by Ana Connell.

Very volatile day again!

Some of the volatility has been blamed on Japanese currency traders who were said to be “unwinding” some positions.

Rumors continued about Countrywide possibly having to go into bankruptcy, Countrywide did come out and deny these rumors late yesterday.

Jobless Claims came in as expected but there was quite a bit of volatility and the Dow ended the day down 211 points on very light volume.   Light volume tends to magnify moves in either direction, so it will be interesting to see what Friday and next week bring.

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20. November 2007 by Ana Connell.

Items of note from the last Burbank City Council meeting:

• Quiet zone was established on the Metrolink Ventura Subdivision at Buena Vista Street and Vanowen crossing. Vote was unanimous.
• The new California building and fire codes were unanimously adopted. Because of past complaints this ordinance will change the Burbank Municipal Code with respect to construction hours. The new hours will be Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No work will be allowed on Sundays and holidays. For homeowners working on their own houses, they will be allowed to work on Sundays and holidays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Unanimous adoption of the wind power agreement between Burbank and the Pebble Springs Wind project in Oregon. Through these and other efforts our power rates could increase less than 1% next year.

Items of note for this week’s City Council meeting:

• New Area Code update-Staffers to update the Burbank City Council about the October 22nd held by the California Public Utilities Commission to seek public comment and input on this issue.
• Citizen’s Option for Public Safety(Cops) Grant-The City of Burbank received a $207,000 grant from the state for the Cops program which provides funding for local law enforcement agencies.
• Alley Vacation-Conditional vacation requested for the alley near the 3800 block of Olive Avenue. This vacation would allow the developer of a proposed 33,420 sq. ft. project to build 14 parking spaces. This will be a mixed use development with office space, restaurant and residential units.

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

Don’t forget that you can watch the City Council meetings live on Charter Communications Channel 6 or online at City of Burbank’s website.

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