Wall Street Greek: Morning Report: S&P Case Shiller & Consumer Confidence

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Morning Report

S&P Case Shiller

S&P Case Shiller provided its Home Price Index for the lagged month of May this morning. It's not a fresh read as we enter August, but it is still a commonly reviewed index for housing price measurement. Over the last two reported periods, the annual price drop has moderated, but still read down 18% and 18.1%, respectively for the 10-City and 20-City Composites. In this latest reporting, the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index noted further moderation of annual price decline. It was the fourth such month of less bad results, and followed a period of 16 months of decline that began in October of 2007.

S&P Case Shiller reported its 10-City and 20-City Composites declined 16.8% and 17.1%, respectively. The chart provided by the partnership shows a notable uptick in the trend line. Of the 20 metropolitan regions measured, 17 saw improved rates of price decline in May. What's more enthusing though is that 13 of the measured regions showed improved pricing. So you can tell your uncle that it's time to buy now...

ICSC Weekly Sales

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Weekly Same-Store Sales data offered a nice 1.0% weekly rise in its latest check. On a year-to-year basis, sales fell 0.5%. Last week's tally showed sales rose 0.5% week-to-week, but fell 0.3% year-to-year. Next week's data might show some weather impact as stormy activity overwhelms the Northeast this week.

Even as the economy stabilizes, with a modest decrease anticipated for Friday's second quarter GDP reading, rising unemployment acts as a drag on consumer confidence and spending. With such a high level of unemployment seen at the peak of this current cycle, we risk double dip recession, if not the slow economic recovery that the Federal Reserve foresees.

Consumer Confidence Index

At 10:00 AM, the Conference Board reports on its Consumer Confidence Index. This reading saw a steep decline last month, dropping 5.5 points. Economists forecast confidence will improve to 50.0 in this latest reading, up from 49.3 last month.

State Street Investor Confidence Index

A second sentiment measure, the State Street Investor Confidence Index is also due at 10:00. State Street (NYSE: STT), measures real portfolio risk based on the holdings of investors at a given time. As the economy shows signs of life and stocks rise, momentum builds as the herd also runs. As a result, risk taking is increasing and equity weightings rising. However, much has been said about the light volume behind this nascent summer rally. The State Street measure increased to 115.5 in June, but there is no forecast available to report.

Government Events

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court later today. The House Financial Services Committee will examine executive compensation, just as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) prepares to issue big bonuses for 2009. San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen is scheduled to address a group around 10:00 a.m. A high ranking Chinese administration representative, Vice Premier Quishan, will meet with US business men. The FDA will examine King Pharmaceuticals' new cardiovascular drug.

Corporate Earnings Schedule

The earnings schedule includes reports from AGCO (Nasdaq: AGCO), AMCORE Financial (Nasdaq: AMFI), Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG), BP plc (NYSE: BP), Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS), Celanese (NYSE: CE), Ceradyne (Nasdaq: CRDN), Check Point Software (Nasdaq: CHKP), Coach (NYSE: COH), Coventry Health (NYSE: CVH), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), Energizer (NYSE: ENR), Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC), Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE), National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC), Panera Bread (Nasdaq: PNRA), Potlatch (NYSE: PCH), Psychiatric Solutions (Nasdaq: PSYS), Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), Smith Int'l (NYSE: SII), Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TEVA), Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT), Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and others.