Last week, the LEI (Leading Economic Indicators) Index rose 1% for the month of December. This is noteworthy in the fact that December is the 6th consecutive monthly increase. Economists are agreeing most indicators are suggesting a pretty good head of momentum. As confidence goes up, so does economic aggressiveness, and that will add to growth.

Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said "we see the economy strengthening but you're not going to reduce unemployment at the pace that we'd like it to."

Again, we are seeing gradual economic improvement, with jobs growth still being a drag on the overall recovery.

New construction continues to be challenged throughout the country as well as locally. The Housing Starts numbers were down 4.3% in the month of December.

Building Permits were up 17% in the month of December. That looks like a great number; however, there are changes taking place with the building codes that started January 1st, artificially inflating the building permits. Builders were buying permits to get under the "old" code regulations and will start construction who knows when! A truer number will be in the January Building Permits number.

This week, Existing Home Sales figures from NAR will be released on Tuesday, the December Pending Sales Index will be released on Thursday. The Case-Shiller November index of home prices will be released on Tuesday. Lots of housing reports, lots of earnings reports due out next week, Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, consumer confidence, weekly jobless claims, and durable goods orders, all due out this week!