Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at Global Insight, said the decline in single-family starts "certainly makes sense given the level of inventory, but the other numbers are puzzling."

TD's Millan Mulraine added that "it may be tempting to conclude that the U.S. housing sector may have gained some positive traction. However, because the boost has...

The rate of housing starts during April was 8.2 percent higher than in March. April's rate was 1,032,000 and the revised March estimate was 954,000. The April figure, however, is 30.6 percent lower than the revised April 2007 rate of 1,487,000.

Home builders, however, continue to take a dim view of the market according to...

The first monthly reading for consumer confidence in May failed to show any improvement despite the beginning of the fiscal stimulus tax rebates, economists say. The preliminary consumer sentiment survey from Reuters and the University of Michigan tumbled beyond the previous month's 26-year low, falling to 59.5 from April's 62.6.

Weakness in U.S. industrial production is consistent with recessionary levels, economists said following the 0.7% decline in Thursday's report from the Federal Reserve.

T.J. Marta, fixed income strategist from RBC Capital Markets, said the "collapse" resembles the turbulence seen during the 1990 recession, the 2001 recession, Hurricane Katrina, and the start of the Iraq War.

Michael Montgomery, economist at Global Insight, said there were...

Speaking at the Chicago Fed's Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he would strongly urge firms to continue raising new capital.

"Recent events have also demonstrated the importance of generous capital cushions for protecting against adverse conditions in financial and credit markets," Bernanke said.

"I strongly urge financial institutions to remain proactive in their capital-raising efforts..."

There is a need for investment banks to be regulated like commercial banks, according to former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker testifying before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday morning.

Volcker also observed that the Fed's involvement in the mortgage market is a...

The lower-than-expected core CPI report released Wednesday should allow the Fed to cut rates once again rather than worry about rising inflation, an economist says. However, as energy prices continue rising, there may be reason to put more emphasis on total inflation rather than the core figure, says another economist.

There is an elevated amount of reluctance from banks to lend, according to Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, speaking Wednesday at the Boston Fed's Basel II conference on New Challenges for Operational Risk Measurement and Management.

"The practices of risk management in general...

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States rose in the week ending May 9, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which said applications increased by 2.9%.

In the previous week, applications rebounded 15.6%.

The portion of fixed-rate mortgages...

Even as the House of Representatives passed two housing rescue bills and the Senate wrestles over a bill of its own, criticism is raining down on those remedies to the housing crisis that are already in place.

There are so many piecemeal plans operating such as Hope Now, Project Lifeline and FHA Secure that it is hard to make any blanket assessment of performance, but a few initiatives stand out.

Also under fire, not unexpectedly, are proposed new rules for regulating the mortgage industry...