Market Analysis

Mortgage-backed securities began to lose steam yesterday afternoon and opened weak this morning.  In mid-day trading though they are starting to improve.  If the improvement continues we may see better investor pricing in the afternoon.

In economic news in the US, yesterday December Personal Income came in up .5% which was better than the .4% expected.  Personal Spending was flat vs expected .1% growth.  This morning the Chicage Purchasing Manager's Index came in at 60.2 vs expected 62.8.  January Consumer Confidence came in at 61.1 vs a 67.0 expected.

In Europe, unemployment in the 17 member Euro zone (countries that use the Euro) climed to 10.4% in December which is a record high since the Euro was introduced in 1999.  Spain's unemployment rate is 22.9% and Greece is at 19.2%.  Germany though posted a rate of 6.7% which is its lowest rate since the reunification of East and West Germany in 1991.