This is so funny it should be embarrassing to these idiots but I'm sure it won't be.

Why should we listen to anyone saying they know what is happening with any sector of the economy.

Check out the news over the last hour on housing this morning. I can't write better comedy.

First Forbes:

" Associated Press
Ahead of the Bell: Housing starts
By The Associated Press, 05.17.11, 07:20 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Builders likely broke ground on more homes in April, giving the battered housing market a small boost amid the worst construction downturn in a generation.

Economists forecast that builders began work on a seasonally adjusted 570,000 homes per year, according to a FactSet survey. That would be a 4 percent increase from the previous month's pace. The Commerce Department releases the report at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday."

Notice the time stamp of 07:20 AM EDT


Then the Commerce Dept.April Housing Report
Commerce Depts. data release @ 0:730AM EDT:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The start of construction on new U.S. homes fell 10.6% in April to an annual rate of 523,000, while permits declined 4.0%, the government reported Tuesday.

Not only did we not see a 10% increase we saw a 4% decrease.

I think one is wishful thinking and the other is reality.

dumb n dumber Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think one is wishful thinking and the other is
> reality.

The Commerce Dept. does about as accurate job compiling data on housing than the Labor Dept. does on unemployment. The CD will revise up starts for April as they usually do but a 14% gap? Reminds me of the old Bob Dylan song lyrics "It doesn't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

What's interesting to me is the metrics involved...the inflation rate only takes into account certain factors (so it's not the true inflation rate). The unemployment rate also takes into account certain factors (so again you get a distorted view).

You'd think that the overall health of this country is somewhat stable and even growing slowly based on the government's cooked up statistics. The reality is far grimmer - real unemployment is well past double digits (using the truer statistic the BLS U6 - unemployment is above 15% - mind you it's always 3-6 points higher than oft touted U3 index which measures only a small fraction of unemployed).

Inflation has jumped much higher than officially reported...one only need to go to the gas station to know that fuel is 20-30% higher than this time last year. All things tied into fuel (which is everything) are also experiencing price hikes - some of it is passed down to us a lot of it is absorbed by the companies afraid to increase price and lose business.

Then we get to housing...to believe that people would be buying new homes in droves when there is still a massive surplus in foreclosures doesn't make sense. Tis basic supply/demand. When you have too much of something it's going to drive down the costs tremendously to make a new house when an existing house would cost considerably less = an unbalanced housing market for years to come.

They can make the numbers say anything they want. Just depends on how they want the spin to go.

The news is constantly spun. Up from last month versus down from the same month last year. Did they mention how many of the units were rentals? The number includes new apartment construction which is more volatile than the other data.