Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Markets Shifted Today
Gold was up over $8, the US dollar took a tumble versus the euro, yen, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar. Equities joined in with the Dow off 174 and the Nasdaq down 28 points. Both markets closed at their lows for the day. The big shocker was the CBOE Volatility Index, which jumped 17% by 5PM Eastern.
Today may be a key move in the housing and lending industries. Fannie Mae started the day at a 4 year low, but gave up another 1.5% today. The builders got hit as well, most of them fresh off 52 week highs. It makes sense that the lenders would precede the builders in a bear market pullback.
Pulte finished down 3.8%, Centex fell 4.4% and KB Home finished 2% lower; all three traded on higher than average volume.
Today may be a key move in the housing and lending industries. Fannie Mae started the day at a 4 year low, but gave up another 1.5% today. The builders got hit as well, most of them fresh off 52 week highs. It makes sense that the lenders would precede the builders in a bear market pullback.
Pulte finished down 3.8%, Centex fell 4.4% and KB Home finished 2% lower; all three traded on higher than average volume.
# posted by Ben Jones @ 3:07 PM 
