Call it the pre-debate jitters. Stocks were little changed yesterday -- the Dow was down, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were up -- and it will probably be more of the same today. The possibility that either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney gives a performance that comes in way above expectations and sways public opinion is very small but investors made it clear they would rather wait on the sidelines than try to pick a debate winner.
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The markets could get a modest boost today from the employment report released by ADP. It said civilian payrolls rose by 162,000 in September, slightly above expectations. Of those jobs, 145,000 were created by small or medium-sized businesses. Large companies are still very hesitant to do any substantial hiring until they get a better sense of where the economy is headed, what health care costs they might have to absorb and what Congress decides to do with the fiscal cliff. The official Labor Department report on last month's employment will be released early Friday morning.
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Also out today is the Discover Spending Monitor, which shows consumer confidence improved in September as households were more optimistic about the U.S. economy improving as well as their own personal finances getting better. The report said 23 percent of those surveyed believe their personal finances will improve in the coming month, an increase of 3 percent from August.
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The California Association of Realtors is forecasting home sales in the Golden State will increase next year for the third consecutive year, while home prices will go up for the second year in a row. "Pent-up demand from first-time buyers will compete with investors and all-cash offers on lower-priced properties, while multiple offers and aggressive bidding will continue to be the norm in mid- to upper-price range homes," said CAR economist Leslie Appleton-Young. By the way, that wins the award for the sentence with the most hyphenated words. Isn't it nice to see the term "aggressive bidding" back in a story about real estate? CAR anticipates the median price for a home sold in California next year will be $335,000, up from $317,000 this year.
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Speaking of housing, it was this week in 1947 the first planned community built by a real estate developer opened for residents in Levittown, on New York's Long Island. Some 17,000 ranch and Cape Cod houses were quickly snapped up by servicemen returning from World War II. The houses averaged about 800 square feet and sold for less than $8,000.
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There is an interesting IPO today. LifeLock, the company providing fraud and identity theft protection, goes public on the NYSE today. The offering is priced at $9 a share, slightly below the initial estimates. The share will trade under the symbol LOCK.
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Published reports this morning are saying Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new mini-iPad for Apple. The smaller tablet would allow Apple to compete with some similar -- and lower priced -- devices from Amazon and Google. No confirmation from the company or rumored date when it might be available, but I'm guessing you'll see it before the holidays.
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