Mortgage Bankers Association Index Rose
March 8, 2010
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications for the week ending February 26 rose 14.6% to approximately 629.9. Purchase volume increased 9% to 214.5. Refinancing applications jumped 17.2% to 3,054.3.
Consumer spending did indeed rise 0.5% to approximately $52.4 billion in January, slightly more than economists had anticipated. Personal income [...] Continue Reading…
Rate Hikes for Electricity Possible
March 7, 2010
The Environmental Protection Agency is hard at work doing what can be done to reduce the haze that is clouding the visibility at 156 class 1 wilderness areas by the year 2064 with the Regional Haze rule. This is being done in order to return the wilderness areas to “natural conditions.
In Oklahoma, the Wichita [...] Continue Reading…
Tulsa Police Talks:Nothing New
March 6, 2010
Police union leaders as well as city leaders had nothing good to report to the public concerning progress in negotiations to bring back 89 Tulsa police offers that were laid off a few months back.
Jim Twombly, Director of Administration met with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93 representative during the morning hours and will [...] Continue Reading…
Existing Home Sales Fell in January
March 1, 2010
Existing home sales fell 7.2% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units from 5.44 million units in December. The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell 0.5% to 3.27 million, is a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.2-month supply in December and a [...] Continue Reading…
Understanding Housing Economic Indicators
February 26, 2010
Economic indicators that kept track of the housing market condition are constantly being monitored by analysts, investors, and policy makers. To understand the indicators you must understand the indicators, which include the following.
Housing Starts
Housing starts is nothing more than the start up purchases that buyers purchase to furnish their new home. This report is [...] Continue Reading…
Rehired Police Officers Returning to Work
February 24, 2010
Good news for the citizens of Tulsa! As of next week, Tulsans will see more police officers back on the beat due to the ability to rehire the police officers using federal grant funds.
Interim Police Chief Chuck Jordan explained today that thirty-five officers were in the process of filling out employment paperwork after accepting [...] Continue Reading…
Housing Market Index Rose Unexpectedly
February 22, 2010
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index rose two points in February to 17. It was the first gain in five months. Economists had anticipated a dip to 14. An index reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market.
The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in January [...] Continue Reading…
Saving Money via Saving Energy
February 19, 2010
If you listen to the news even once in awhile you have heard the words “global warming” and “air pollution”. Whether you believe in global warming or not, you have to see that air pollution is a bad thing that can and does make people ill. Saving energy will reduce the demand for what [...] Continue Reading…
New Formula for Old Schools
February 17, 2010
The Obama administration is looking into developing a new formula to hold schools accountable for student performance and to rewrite the 8-year-old “No Child Left Behind Law”.
Before the Obama administration begins to overhaul or change this law, they should look at the results that have occurred. In the state of Oklahoma, more students with [...] Continue Reading…
Initial Claims for Unemployment Fell
February 16, 2010
Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 43,000 to 440,000 in the week ending February 6. Continuing claims for the week ending January 30 fell by 79,000 to 4.538 million.
Unexpectedly our retail sales rose 0.5% in January, following a revised 0.1% decrease in December. Economists had anticipated retail sales to rise 0.3% in the [...] Continue Reading…