Economic news appeared quite mixed today, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 7.1% drop in mortgage applications across the last week, their press release (excerpt);

"WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 27, 2012) — Mortgage applications decreased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 22, 2012. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 7.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index also decreased 7.1 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index decreased  8 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased more than 2 percent compared with the previous week and was almost 3 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

"Refinance volume fell last week due largely to a fall-off in refinance applications for government loans, which had more than doubled the prior week," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics.  "The large swings in activity were due to the implementation of FHA's new premiums on streamline refinances, and borrowers timing their applications to lower their premiums."




Durable Goods Orders came in at a 1.1% increase for May against consensus of 0.4%.   The market liked that with an upswing in the NASDAQ futures up to 2562.50 before it retraced back to around the 2552.50 level prior to Pending Home Sales coming in at 5.9% against expectations of just 1%, a big beat.  The NASDAQ reacted strongly with a swift 18 point move higher within the next quarter hour.   Clearly with the difficulties in the US housing market these numbers are watched closely for any hints of a change in trend.

On www.forexfactory.com you can get charts of previous economic reports and see how the actual numbers contrast to the expectations;

Pending Homes Sales (Month on month)


On the above chart you can see that, by and large, where a positive number was expected, the result was a beat, with a few exceptions.



From the National Association of Realtors press release (excerpt);

"WASHINGTON (June 27, 2012) – Pending Home Sales bounced back in May, matching the highest level in the past two years, and are well above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.  Both monthly and annual gains were seen in every region.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 5.9 percent to 101.1 in May from 95.5 in April and is 13.3 percent above May 2011 when it was 89.2.  The data reflect contracts but not closings.

The index also reached 101.1 in March, which is the highest level since April 2010 when buyers were rushing to beat the deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said longer term comparisons are more relevant.  "The housing market is clearly superior this year compared with the past four years.  The latest increase in home contract signings marks 13 consecutive months of year-over-year gains," he said.  "Actual closings for existing-home sales have been notably higher since the beginning of the year and we're on track to see a 9 to 10 percent improvement in total sales for 2012."

The national median existing-home price is expected to rise 3.0 percent this year and another 5.7 percent in 2013."





I didn't get any signals to trade until a little later, at 18:54, a long, filled at 2558, better fill than when the signal was given (I was on a train during this time), market took me out within a matter of seconds for a 1.5 point loss;