In This Issue..
* Home sales increase most in eight years...
* Euro boosted by confidence...
* Geitner sells the Chinese...
* Carry trades back in vogue...
The dollar lost more ground on Monday, but the reasons were different than those that caused last week's slow decline. Currency traders sold the dollar after a report showed sales of new homes rose the most in eight years. New-home sales in the US climbed 11% last month to a 384,000 annual pace. This was substantially higher than economists had forecast, and the most since November. The report also showed the number of houses on the market dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade. The housing numbers seem to confirm that the housing market may be approaching a bottom, but housing prices continue to fall, and more data is needed before I'm convinced the worst is over. Many of these homes have been sold to first time homebuyers taking advantage of government programs; and if unemployment continues to climb, housing sales are not likely to rise quickly....