Market Analysis

We will update our economic calendar for this week tomorrow on our Market Update which can always be accessed at www.IronHarbor.com/MarketAnalysis .

Today, bond markets are down slightly on an improved situation with the debt crisis in Greece.  Over the weekend a $146 Billion (US Dollars) bailout was negotiated, whereby the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) are lending Greece funds to enable it to not default on its debt in exchange for Greece pledging to push through $40 Billion (US Dollars) of budget cuts which is equivalent to approx 13% of their gross domestic product.  While there are still concerns about the debts of other European countries like Spain, Portugal and Ireland, the underpinnings of the recent "flight to safety" trade from the European debt crisis appear to be dissipating.  The stock market rallied today on the Greek bailout news.  The Dow was up over 140 points.

In other economic news today, March Personal Spending, Income and the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE - a measure of inflation at the consumer level) all came in exactly where the market had been projecting.  Income was up .3%, Spending was up .6% and the PCE was up .1%.  In separate news, Construction Spending for March was up .2% vs expectations of a .3% decline in spending and the Institute of Supply Management's Manufacturing Sector index was up to a 60.4 reading vs expecations of a 60.0 reading.