The economy continues to give us mixed signals – here is a succinct list of what happened last week:

Positives:
1) Irish bailout helps to calm markets by week’s end
2) Spain and Portugal successfully sell debt, also calming nerves
3) Trichet remains patient, says no to peer pressure, doesn’t further blur line between monetary and fiscal policy
4) Chinese mfr’g indices rise to 7 mo high
5) Taiwan and South Korea PMI’s both rise
6) Thailand raises rates to face inflation
7) ISM services and mfr’g indices hold steady
8) Pending Home Sales show big upside
9) ABC confidence at 7 week high

Negatives:
1) Payrolls well below estimates and unemployment rate at 7 mo high
2) Mortgage rates continue higher, refi’s fall 22%
3) S&P/Case Shiller show softer home prices
4) Gasoline prices highest since May
5) Asia continues rate hikes

Source: The Big Picture