Was That the Bottom in Gold Prices?
"The first look at second-quarter gross domestic product won't be released until July 31 – the second day of the Federal Reserve's next Federal Open Market Committee meeting. But monthly data available make it clear the spring slump was, indeed, very, very slumpy."Monday brought disappointing news on retail sales and business inventories. Retail purchases increased just 0.4% in June, not the 0.8% expected, and May's sales were revised down. The control sales group, which goes into GDP and which excludes vehicles, building materials and gasoline, rose 0.15% in June, half the gain forecasted..."
"A report issued Monday by Lender Processing Services. LPS found that, although delinquent mortgages declined 15% this year, they are still running at 6.08% of all outstanding mortgages – about 1.5 times the rate from 1995-2005..."Moreover, LPS found that existing borrowers are still struggling. Though the number has declined by half since last year, more than 7.3 million mortgage holders have loans that exceed the value of their homes – that's more than 14% of all existing home loans."