Weak economic data, didn't alter the trendThis morning's economic news left much to be desired. Weekly jobless claims ticked a little higher to 366,000 and continuing claims were slightly higher than expected.Traders were looking forward to positive news on the housing market, but housing starts for July were a mere 746,000 (about 20,000 below estimates). Luckily building permits picked up some of the slack with a better than expected print at 812,000.Yesterday's miss on Empire Manufacturing was given a pass because of its locality, but today's draw of 7.1 in the Philly Fed should have been enough to put traders on notice. Nonetheless, the day's news was all but ignored and the markets went back to business as usual...stock index futures were bought into and Treasuries sold. |