Fed Watch: For It Before He Was Against It

Apparently when the markets thought Helicopter Ben was done raising interest rates, they were somehow thinking he was not a disciple of Greenspan:

Stocks fell on Monday after CNBC's Maria Bartiromo revealed on air that Ben Bernanke felt his testimony last week had been "misunderstood." The anchor said Mr Bernanke had told her at the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington on Saturday that he had not intended the markets to infer that the Fed was nearly done raising interest rates.

Awesome. First time out the gate and the pundits are already confuzzled by the Greenspeak. Of course, not all of us were so easily fooled. :) CNN Money has more.

Here's a great article from today's Post about the changing D.C. market. I'm happy to see buyers being rational and altering their expectations, but those prices are just insanely out of whack. At least the DiPietros are being smart and taking more off the top than their counterparts in Boston did.

Wow, this Hovnanian data is bad mojo, to say the least. Check it:

"While we have expected weaker trends in orders, we were surprised by the magnitude of the 20% decline in the quarter given the significant community growth," Oppenheim said in a research note.
Hovnanian, the eighth-largest U.S. home builder as measured by 2005 sales, has been active in making acquisitions the past year -- for example, purchasing First Home Builders of Florida and Oster Homes.
"The sharp decline in orders results from both lower gross orders and a significant uptick in cancellations -- likely in the Southeast, Southwest and West," said Oppenheim, who also lowered his price target on Hovnanian's shares to $40 from $50.

But...but...but...wasn't everyone fleeing the cities for quaint homes in the exurbs? Surely the media wouldn't--gasp--EXAGGERATE?!

Shocked, shocked, you know the rest.

Posted at May 2, 2006 02:55 PM

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Apparently when the markets thought Helicopter Ben was done raising interest rates, they were somehow thinking he was not a disciple of Greenspan: Stocks fell on Monday after CNBC's Maria Bartiromo revealed on air that Ben Bernanke felt his testimony last week had been "misunderstood." The anchor said Mr Bernanke had told her at the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington on Saturday that he had not intended the markets to infer that the Fed was nearly done raising interest rates. Awesome. First time out the gate and the pundits are already confuzzled by the Greenspeak. Of course, not all of us were so easily fooled. :) CNN Money has more. Here's a great article from today's Post about the changing D.C. market. I'm happy to see buyers being rational and altering their expectations, but those prices are just insanely out of whack. At least the DiPietros are being smart and taking more off the top than their counterparts in Boston did. Wow, this Hovnanian data is bad mojo, to say the least. Check it: "While we have expected weaker trends in orders, we were surprised by the magnitude of the 20% decline in the quarter given the significant community growth," Oppenheim said in a research note. Hovnanian, the eighth-largest U.S. home builder as measured by 2005 sales, has been active in making acquisitions the past year -- for example, purchasing First Home Builders of Florida and Oster Homes. "The sharp decline in orders results from both lower gross orders and a significant uptick in cancellations -- likely in the Southeast, Southwest and West," said Oppenheim, who also lowered his price target on Hovnanian's shares to $40 from $50. But...but...but...wasn't everyone fleeing the cities for quaint homes in the exurbs? Surely the media wouldn't--gasp--EXAGGERATE?! Shocked, shocked, you know the rest.