'RealMoney' Radio Recap: Market Marvels
02/27/06 - 05:28 PM EST
TheStreet.com Staff
The market was experiencing a "pleasant" -- not a perfect -- storm today, Aaron Task, co-executive editor of TheStreet.com, told "RealMoney" radio show listeners Monday. Task is filling in for Jim Cramer this week.
Part of that so-called pleasant storm had to do with today's muted home-sales data. Task said that today's results may not be good for those who are selling their homes, but they're good for investors because it will keep the Fed from being overly concerned about an overheated real estate market. Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. fell 5% in January, and the amount of unsold inventory rose to the highest level in nearly 10 years, the Commerce Department said Monday. Sales in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.233 million, down from 1.298 million in December and up slightly from 1.194 million a year ago. Economists expected a rate of 1.26 million sales, according to Reuters. Task also said that home improvement retailer Lowe's(LOW Quote - Cramer on LOW - Stock Picks) had good numbers today, which means that the housing sector will not fall apart and that a soft landing is possible. Another part of Task's pleasant storm is the recent spate of M&A activity which included the purchase by Britain's National Grid of utility KeySpan(KSE Quote - Cramer on KSE - Stock Picks) and GE's(GE Quote - Cramer on GE - Stock Picks) decision to buy a piece of TXU(TXU Quote - Cramer on TXU - Stock Picks). "Merger activity takes away from the supply of stock," said Task. "And when you get down to it, the market runs on supply and demand." Task added that the final piece of the pleasant storm came in the form of lower oil prices attributable to the Iran situation "cooling off a bit."
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