Case-Shiller Gives Upbeat Outlook; MacroShares ETFs on the Move
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Michael Johnston submits:
Home prices in the U.S., as measured by the S&P Case-Shiller home price indexes, rose in July over the previous month, as 18 of the 20 metropolitan areas comprising the benchmark saw saw a boost to real estate values. For the 16th consecutive month, every region saw year-over-year declines, but the pace of those declines continues to decelerate, according to the Wall Street Journal. The ten-city index is down 33.5% from its mid-2006 high, while the 20-city index has declined 32.6%.
The news released Tuesday morning was far better than investors were anticipating, as evidenced by movements of the MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up Trust (UMM) and Major Metro Housing Down Trust (DMM). In relatively heavy trading Tuesday morning, UMM had gained more than 3%, while DMM was down by about the same amount.
