Housing Starts fell in March, Corporate Earnings mixed reviews, US Stocks lower today due to missed earnings from Goldman Sachs
April 18, 2017
Inclement weather during March in the Midwest and Northeast sent a chill in residential new home construction after the unseasonably warm weather in February. The Commerce Department reported that Housing Starts in March fell nearly 7% from February to an annual rate of 1.215 million annualized units, below the 1.256 million expected. February was revised higher to 1.303 million from 1.288 million. From March 2016 to March 2017, Housing Starts were up 9%.
On the corporate earnings front, investment banking giant Goldman Sachs missed expectations on both earnings and revenues. Goldman said that its operating environment was mixed, while client activity was challenged. Bank of America beat on both earnings and revenues led by an increase in loans and banking deposits. CEO Moynihan said the “U.S. economy continues to show consumer and business optimism.”
U.S. Stocks are lower today due in part to the rare miss on earnings from Goldman Sachs and a possible delay in tax reforms. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the Financial Times yesterday that the August deadline for tax reform is “not realistic at this point.” Secretary Mnuchin said that the reason for the delay is because of problems with getting a new health care bill passed. Mr. Mnuchin went on to say that he still expects tax reform proposal to pass by the fall.
