Good Thursday morning from your Hometown Lender,

More data today and it was a mixed bag.

Today we see the 1st look (of 3 looks) into the 2nd qtr. GDP. Markets expected somewhere around 2.0%, as reported, it was 2.8%.That seems awfully curious as GDP in Q1 was 1.4%… Does anyone think economic activity has doubled in Q2? I don’t.

Markets are somewhat shrugging that off as another big release today, Durable Goods orders (Cars, Washing Machines, Home Appliances, Air Conditioning, Smartphones, Computers, Furniture, etc..) was expected at +.3% and came in at -6.6%. that’s a big drop of 22x less than expected. Unemployment claims were in line with expectations.

Bonds are holding on to a bit of a bid, so the yield/rate is down a bit.

Equities got shellacked yesterday and are coming back a bit today, but still seem to be in a downward trend. Tomorrow is the big day of the week for economic news with the release of the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures), the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge along with Personal Income. Expectations for PCE are a month to month increase of .2% (last month was .1%) I don’t think that is unreasonable, but I don’t like floating into a big news event.

This all said, the biggest news of the day…

Southwest is doing away with open seating… WHAT? Starting in 2025, you will start having to pay for your seat choice… How dare they put profit to stay in business over people… 😊

Stay safe and make today great!