Durable Goods Rise Unexpectedly, Foreclosure Filings Triple

In the ever-confusing world of conflicting US economic reports, today proved to be no exception.  New orders for US-made capital goods rose an unexpectedly healthy .8% in June, the Commerce Department reported.  Economists' forecasts were fairly wide of the mark as they were expecting a decline of .3%.  Excluding the volatile transportation component, orders were up 2.0% in June.  We can confidently put this report in the "good news" column for the US economy and the timing of its release could not have been better.  It should help to buffer the sting from the always-dreaded release of RealtyTrac's quarterly report on foreclosure filings which was flat-out terrible.  A total of 739,714 foreclosure filings were recorded during the second quarter, an increase of 14% from the first quarter and 121% from the same period in 2007.  Furthermore, bank repossessions were up as a proportion of total filings, representing 30% of the notices issued during the quarter.  California's Central Valley had the highest rate of foreclosure filings, one out of every 25 homes.  Riverside/San Bernardino had one filing for every 32 households.  Las Vegas, Bakersfield and Sacramento rounded out the top five.  The new home sales release is due out in a half an hour.  I'm no economist, but I'm guessing the number will not be pretty.