Durable Goods Orders for February increased 3.4%, by $5.5 billion, to $165.6 billion breaking a 6 month streak of monthly decreases, following a downwardly revised 7.3% reduction in January (originally reported at -5.2%).  Analysts expected new orders to fall 2.1% for the month.  Over the past 12 months, Durable Orders have dropped by 28.4%.  Machinery, up following four consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase of 13.5%, by $2.9 billion to $24.4 billion Excluding transportation, Durable Goods increased by 3.9%, and excluding defense, Durable Goods increased 1.7%.

New Home Sales were reported jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for February up 4.7% to an annual rate of 337,000, jumping from January’s revised figure of 322,000 from an originally reported 309,000 which was the slowest pace ever recorded.  New sales were expected to plummet further down to a 307,000 pace, bringing today’s release at a positive surprise.  Over the year, sales are down 41.1% from the 572,000 pace in February of 2008. The mean price of a new home sold in February y decreased to $209,000 from a mean of $234,600 in January, following a $246,900 mean price in December and from $287,500 in November. 

Upcoming Releases
GDP-Final for 4th Quarter of 2008 (03/26 at 8:30 AM EST)
Initial Claims (03/26 at 8:30 AM EST)
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