New sales of single-family homes dropped 12.4% in July to 276,000 from a downward revised 315,000 in June; this sets a new low for the data series

· Durable Goods - The July durable goods report was a major disappointment and raises the risk that third quarter GDP growth prints below 1%. Shipments of core capital goods (ex-aircraft and defense) fell 1.5%, the most since April 2009, and orders for core capital goods plunged 8.0%, the most since January 2009. This category is the most important element of the report as it is the best gauge of business capital spending and it feeds into the calculation of GDP. Feroli. ·

New Home Sales - New sales of single-family homes dropped 12.4% in July to 276,000 from a downward revised 315,000 in June; this sets a new low for the data series. New home sales already fell 32% in May following the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, so the July data shows prolonged weakness in the market for new homes even after sales increased a bit in June. There was a decline in new homes sold in all of the reported regions.