Market Conditions on Christmas Eve....

The housing markets continued to receive some good news today as November New Home Sales came in at 464,000 units annualized, above the 433K expected. In addition, October was revised to 474,000 from 444,000. The 464,000 was down 2.1% from the revised 474,000, which turned out to be a five-year high.

Over in the mortgage market, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that its Market Composite Index, a measure of total loan application volume, fell by 6.3% in the latest week, a 13-year low. The MBA cited that the Fed's recent tapering announcement pushed home loan rates higher in the past few weeks. The refinance index fell by 8%, a five year low, while the purchase index declined by 4%.

The Stock markets could be in the making for a Santa Claus Rally in the next week, which is defined by a surge in the price of Stocks between Christmas and New Year's Day. There are many explanations for the rally...including tax considerations, happiness around Wall Street, people investing their Christmas bonuses and due to the fact that pessimists are usually on vacation.