Economy - Thursday      (Investor's Business Daily)
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Investor's Business Daily - That&#39;s a little softer than the prior reading of 4% and estimates for a 3.9% annual rate. But it&#39;s still the best in a year. Net exports were a little weaker than prior estimates said. Still, trade and business investment offset another sharp drop in home building as well as sluggish consumer spending. Most economists expect slower 2nd-half growth as a credit crunch takes its toll on housing and other sectors.
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Investor's Business Daily - The Richmond Fed&#39;s service-sector revenues index fell to -4 in Aug. vs. 6 in July. The retail sales revenues index dived to -34 vs. 3 in July. But the manufacturing index for the Richmond Fed district ticked up to 7 this month from 4 in July.
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Investor's Business Daily - Average 30-year rates fell to 6.14% from 6.18% in the prior week. The 15-year rate averaged 5.86% vs. 5.92%, while 1-year ARMs fell to 5.47% from 5.49%. Rates are at their lowest levels so far this year, Freddie Mac said, citing worries over last week's sell-off in stocks and concerns over the slowing U.S. economy.
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Investor's Business Daily - Despite mortgage rates hitting their highest level in almost a year, the Mortgage Bankers Association&#39;s mortgage activity index rose 1.1% to 626.2 in the week ended July 6, with applications for buying homes up 3.8%. Applications were 10.5% above year-ago levels. But the 4-week average fell 1.6% to 6.27 as homebuyers remain wary.
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Plus: SAP revenues solid, outlook moderate...Phone sales boost Nokia profits past forecasts...eBay posts large quarterly loss on Skype write-down...IBM services buoy earnings...Yahoo net profit falls.
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Investor's Business Daily - The Mortgage Bankers Assoc.&#39;s application index rose 0.9% to 631.6 in the week ended July 13, as homeowners rushed to refinance their loans due to fears that interest rates will head higher. Homebuyer applications fell. The 4-week moving average of applications fell 0.5%, down for the 8th straight week.
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Investor's Business Daily - One of the questions swirling around the global credit crisis is how it will impact private-equity deals, which ran at a record pace for much of the year.
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Investor's Business Daily - Domestic stock funds had a rough June, but managed to hold on to solid performance for the second quarter and year to date. Growth beat value for the month, quarter and year to date.
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Investor's Business Daily - IBM is ironing out some scheduling problems for the steel industry.
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Investor's Business Daily - Environment: Enough can't be said about Tony Blair's unwavering support of the U.S. in the war on terror. His position on global warming is another matter.
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Investor's Business Daily - Asia is doing particularly well in 2006. Among the bright spots are iShares MSCI Singapore  (AMEX:EWS - News), up 13.67% this year.
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Investor's Business Daily - There might come a day when U.S. investors don't have a hopeless crush on Chinese stocks, but that day won't come soon.
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Investor's Business Daily - Mutual fund investors reached deeper into their pockets in October to step up buying of stock and bond funds, as the market rallied and the outlook for inflation improved.
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Investor's Business Daily - 1 China&#39;s leading stock index tumbled 6.5% after Beijing tripled a tax on stock trading to cool its booming market. Investors have been skittish on China since ex-Fed chief Alan Greenspan warned that its bubble could bust. But unlike in Feb., when a Shanghai swoon sparked a worldwide selloff, U.S. stocks rallied.
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Investor's Business Daily - The Mortgage Bankers Association&#39;s mortgage application index fell 3.4% to 643.7 in the week ended June 15, but was still up 13.2% compared with the same week last year. The purchase index slid 3% to 450.9 while the refinancing index fell 4.2% to 1,776.8.
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Investor's Business Daily - Insult is about to follow injury. It's bad enough that you've had to put up with a so-so year of market performance. Now you have to brace for an expected rise in stock fund capital gain distributions.
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Investor's Business Daily - Investors who held interests in real estate investment trusts and home-building exchange traded funds celebrated last week as real estate shares surged. But don&#39;t break out the champagne yet -- analysts say caution should be your operative approach.