Although the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has become a bit more optimistic in the last week, the outlook is still rather grim for the economy. According to the S&P 500’s Index, earnings are expected to drop 31 percent from where they were last year, down from the prediction of a 35 percent drop in earnings that was issued last week.
 
S&P 500 credits a better-than-expected set of results from some of the country’s largest financial institutions with the change in forecast. In order to make its prediction, S&P has compiled a calculation from actual results that companies have posted for …read more

The housing market has certainly experienced dire straits as a result of the global economic recession with staggering foreclosure numbers and banks unwilling to give out home loans. However, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index shows that builder confidence for newly built single-family homes has risen three points in July.
According to the index, which rates builder confidence as 17, it is the highest level since September 2008. A different index that gauges how many prospective buyers there are has risen one point, while the index that determines sales expectations over the next six months has not …read more