Stock Market: Has room to move higher but will have a hard time sustaining the gains. We will likely see stocks end the year near current levels. Until jobs increase, not much true growth will be realized.
Good stock picks for this year are in the Medical supply/service companies and also Insurance companies depending on how the new health care bill is structured.
Jobless #s: In order to keep up with population growth 125,000 jobs need to be created each month. During times like these where we are losing thousands upon thousands of jobs - it will take decades to get back to 6% unemployment rates. I believe the norm moving forward will be far higher levels of unemployment.
Home Prices: We are near the bottom, however home prices will likely decline during the summer months after the tax credit rush in the Summer. Prices will then climb back up and end slightly up on the year. 2011 and 2012 should yield around 3% annual appreciation.
Mortgage Rates: They will go up, no question. We will likely see some inflationary pressure begin to push rates up, the gradual increase in rates is due to the Fed backing off and eventually canceling their mortgage backed securities purchase program (March 31st). We will likely see rates around 6% at the end of 2010, however they will likely peak around 7% during fluctuations in the market along the way.
Post a Comment
<< Home