In economic data today the April consumer price index (CPI) showed a .7% decrease compared to last year primarily based on lower energy and food costs this year.  Comparing April to March of this year, there was no change. In a separate report, manufacturing production continues to slump, falling .3% in April which was, however, better than the 2.1% drop in March.  The headlines this week have been centered on dealership closings by Chrysler and GM.  GM's announcement today that it plans to close 1,100 dealerships was taken as a sign that GM is on course towards a bankruptcy filing.  Bankruptcy protection will most likely be required to enable GM to trim its dealer network.  It is interesting to note that 500 of the 1,100 dealerships sold less than 35 new GM vehicles per year.  However, the National Automobile Dealers Association said the affected dealerships employ approx 63,000 salespeople, mechanics and other personnel.  The stock market rally took a breather this week, with this being the first week in the past 10 weeks where all three major indexes, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite lost ground.  It is interesting to note that the late week weakness in stocks did not help mortgage rates.  What helped mortgage rates earlier in the week was aggressive buying of Treasury notes and mortgage-backed securities by the Fed.