And just like that, January comes to a close.  The DOW 20,000 didn’t have quite the momentum that pundits presumed it would, and the index has lost 150 points today so far, settling in at 19,819.  This selloff in the stock market is boosting bonds, and MBS are up 22 on the day.

The Home Price Index shows a 0.9% increase last month, with a 5.3% year over year advance. Home Prices are still significantly outpacing other measures of inflation; the Employment Cost Index, for example, only rose 0.5% last month and 2.2% for the year. It does cause one to wonder how long this can continue, but the gap has widened over the last 34 years.