The Main Street Economy

Economic reports over the past week have been largely dominated by the seemingly good news of record highs in the DOW Jones Industrial Index (DJIA,) accompanied by a decline in the filing for new unemployment benefit claims. Core Logic, which specializes in monitoring and analyzing home pricing and real estate markets, reported this week that housing prices have improved by 9.7% over their averages this time last year, making it the biggest recorded increase since 2006. Thus potentially explaining both the records being posted in the DOW, as well as the general surge in the financial markets. The typical players…