UPI NewsTrack Business

Markets romp Monday

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. markets bolted forward Monday, buoyed by a Federal Reserve official's comments and a jump in home sales.

St. Louis Reserve Bank President James Bullard said Sunday the central bank should buy mortgage-backed securities through the first quarter of 2010, MarketWatch reported Monday.

The National Association of Realtors said home sales jumped 10.1 percent in October after rising 9.4 percent in September.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 132.79 points ahead, 1.29 percent, to 10,450.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 1.36 percent, 14.86, to 1,106.24. The Nasdaq composite index of tech-dominated stock rose 1.4 percent, 29.97, to 2,176.01.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,343 stocks advanced and 665 declined on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 4/32 to yield 3.35 percent.

The euro rose to $1.4965 from Friday's $1.4862. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 88.971 yen from Friday's 89.03 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was closed for a bank holiday.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 104.09, 1.98 percent, to 5,355.50.

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Black Wednesday? Retailers extend deals

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Black Friday may not be confined to Friday anymore, as some U.S. retailers said sales would begin before Thanksgiving to make up for a slow economy.

"Retailers understand that consumers are reconfiguring their balance sheets. We know they're not spending as much or as frequently," James Russo of Nielsen Marketing told The Detroit News.

Kmart and Wal-Mart are already pushing Black Friday sales, which traditionally occur the day after Thanksgiving -- called Black Friday as it is said to be the day stores move into the black for the year.

It is still expected to be a slow year. The National Retail Federation said the average shopper will spend $507.90 on the holidays, down from $534.79 a year ago.

"Despite some of the prevailing thinking that the economy is turning around, there are still major headwinds facing the consumer," Russo said.

One market analyst urged shoppers to make quicker decisions this year, as stores, burnt with too much inventory a year ago, are cutting back.

"If you see it, you should buy it, because there's a good chance it will be gone," said Darla Bowen, marketing director at Fairlane Town Center, a Michigan firm.

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Home sale spike continues

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Sales of existing U.S. homes jumped 10.1 percent in October, continuing a seven-month upswing, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops rose to an adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units in October after a rise of 9.4 percent in September and a slight drop, down 2.7 percent to 5.1 million units, in August.

The October sales figure was 23.5 percent above the 4.94 million annual rate of October 2008.

The association gave credit to the ending of a tax credit as "many buyers have been rushing to beat the deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of this month," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Yun said the run-up in sales should continue through November, when the tax credit was scheduled to end.

Beyond that, "with such a sale spike, a measurable decline should be anticipated in December and early next year," he said.

The inventory of homes on the market dropped to 3.57 million, a seven-month supply for the market at the current sales pace, NAR said. Home prices, meanwhile, are 7.1 percent lower than October 2008 with a national median sales price of $173,100.

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Crosswinds builder caught in crossfire

LANSING, Mich., Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The chairman of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority is being hounded by lawsuits involving failed development projects, court records show.

Bernard Glieberman, who said he has lost "a fortune" with the economic downturn, was appointed chairman by Gov. Jennifer Granholm last year, The Detroit News reported Monday.

Glieberman is also the chief executive officer of Crosswinds Communities Inc., which has unfinished projects and unpaid bills that have plagued residents of a Monroe, Mich., homeowners association.

Glieberman's companies have faced lawsuits totaling more than $100 million in various courtrooms across the country due to defaults on loans.

Glieberman said he is "doing things to put things right."

Nevertheless, Monroe resident Willie Hall said Glieberman's predicament was "a slap in the face not only to the residents here, but to the whole state of Michigan."

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority is an advisory board that sets policy for public-private partnerships to construct low-income housing. Positions on the board are unpaid. Glieberman also said none of his projects included MSHDA loans, the newspaper said.