I look at tax returns all day long, so it is interesting when the IRS publishes their data. Albeit antiquated (the last composite disseminated is from 2011), this chart shows that the upper 1% earn more than double what the top 5% report to Uncle Sam, and over 10 times what the lower 50% earn in a year.
The National Home Builders is blaming severe weather conditions across the country for the drop in their Housing Market Index. The reading dropped from 56 last month to 46 this month, where 50 represents the threshold between a positive and a negative market, and is based on a survey of home builders throughout the USA.
Storms in New England might also be the culprit for the decline in the Empire State Manufacturing Index dropping from 12.5 to 4.48 this month, though this survey is completed by 175 executives across a variety of sectors and looks six months into the future.
