Jobless Claims, Housing Starts and Boeing's 787 Trouble

Latest in business and finance. -- -- -- You're watching live coverage of the opening bell on ABC news now ringing the bell this morning and -- -- Things up this Thursday January 17 hello everyone I'm... See More

Latest in business and finance. -- -- -- You're watching live coverage of the opening bell on ABC news now ringing the bell this morning and -- -- Things up this Thursday January 17 hello everyone I'm Tanya -- in New York. Breaking business news weekly jobless claims have hit a five year low. And new housing starts have surged joining me now to discuss the top business stories this morning is -- and toll senior columnist -- our partner Yahoo! finance good morning Mike. -- -- So -- -- by giving these numbers they're worth 335000. New jobless claims last week that is a drop of more than 10% and then. Housing starts were up twelve point 1% in December ending the best year. Since 2008. As this. As good news as it seems. It seems so yeah I mean there's really no way to to punch too many holes in what seems like a pretty happy picture right now clearly in December. -- the whole fiscal cliff noise and all the things we -- we're suppressing. -- economic growth really didn't have an effect on the consumer and housing parts of the economy and probably because the jobs market. Has remained relatively strong. Really with the when we say the judge -- stronger -- companies have slowed down almost to a stop the the mass layoffs and things like that that's why the jobless claims numbers are good -- -- -- -- -- seasonal adjustments -- a little bit of noise in the data from an overall it shows that things are rather relatively an upswing in. We have a pretty good head -- steam economically and housing. And the labor market coming into 2013 an -- these numbers expected a little bit better than expected slightly better than expected on both counts. But again you know you went -- -- -- noise in the numbers when you when you have the seasonal adjustments you have to figure that retailer -- up in December and then. -- some people off some point in January have to estimate when that happens. And -- comes -- the housing start number December is not a very active month in general -- as you can imagine for breaking ground on new homes right and this one was particularly helped. By multifamily house meaning you know apartment buildings things like that that's not really what people think god as a booming single family home -- But at least there are some transactions taking place. All right now both Bank of America and Citigroup just came out with their earnings this morning what -- the headlines here. Well both. Huge banks are still kind of fighting through the aftermath of the whole. Mortgage and housing crisis they're still taking big charges -- big legal settlements that they're paying out. And they're still trying to get the size of their businesses right for the new environment it seems by the results of Bank of America is a bit farther along in that process. Then -- group is right now -- of a sort of had a great year in terms of its stock performance last year and it is certain sort of bizarre confirmed by the fact that they see me -- -- more progress but these are not fabulously profitable. Companies just yet -- and they're dealing with -- low interest rates are still dealing with some loan losses and foreclosures and things like that so. They're kind of almost out of the woods but definitely not all the way there. How long do you think it's gonna take a wonderfully clean up the books. You know through this year we should most to have most of that now behind us is really is kind of the aftermath when it comes this city ever so slightly different story -- a new CEO over as a few months ago they have to decide it's a group. Just exactly what the shape of the new company's going to be they're gonna be much more internationally focused maybe a little bit less of a Wall Street power and so that's how there's a little more strategy -- to -- figured out there -- -- -- -- Looks like. They're at least steadily on the path to where they wanted to and -- we had JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs reporting yesterday when you bring them into the picture. Are we seeing any larger trends in the banking industry as a whole. Yet those two -- those two banks are much more oriented toward trading and investment banking and and helping companies do big deal so that piece of the business has been sort of dormant for a little while seems like it's coming back a little bit -- And again it really just means that the very largest banks -- spent the last few years they're trimming their cost. Figuring out exactly know what business is they should and shouldn't be -- and now. They're ready to actually some do more business and -- on -- usual but residual bases not quite all the way there right does seem like -- the financial sectors it's got its legs back under. That it wasn't all -- not all that trimming away our -- -- let's move on to Boeing the FAA has grounded the company's 787. Is the dreamliner reputation. Doomed or can -- come back. It's too early to say that it's doomed obviously this is relatively early in the process of them rolling out -- -- new planes. So it's not as if there's so many of these planes in the air already that they had to ground it wasn't. It was a business -- is big in the future. But I do think they have serious issues to work through in terms of the engineering -- seems like it's a battery issue -- they had these two fires. And they have to figure out exactly. What about the design of these planes might be. -- kind of a flaw that's not going to be a quick process and -- obviously going to be an overhang on -- for a while it's going to be expensive to fix. And maybe it's gonna -- canceled orders down the road. But it's too early to say that this is a doomed project which invested -- and -- the 747. In -- forty years ago. Had similar issues upon roll out so it doesn't mean -- this design. This is not gonna fly right this is just the way -- moving into the future works and it certainly doesn't seem to be her hurting Boeing's stock at all. Well that's the interesting thing I mean the stock -- sort of been flat for the for about a year now and it really is not -- that much probably because most of the orders were going to be. You know hitting the books down the road it's not so much. As if it was today's business that's going away but still it is interest thing a perhaps -- perhaps means that if the news gets a little bit worse in terms of his grounding in the whole process of investigating it. Maybe there is vulnerability in Boeing stock but for now it's been pretty resilient. Right we'll have to wait and see they're now we already spoke about a housing starts -- later today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will announce new rules to protect homeowners facing foreclosure. What -- changes are we likely to see in this announcement and how will banks react. This is just I think incremental. In the process of just making sure war. That -- banks don't have. Wide latitude to sort of throw people out of homes and -- -- so I don't think it's isn't going to be fundamentally different from some of the safeguards have been in place. So far from. But I do think that that that it's is that additional squeeze on what banks can do to try to have their way out here again I. -- encourage able to view this as. Kind of the -- a fact. Of the housing bust and we're just trying to figure out. What's fair you know what can we possibly -- to cut people some slack and I do think that now there's new agency is going to be a little more scrutiny every every little step -- that. Prospects the last side before the housing bust hopefully fades to black stand right. All right Mike let's take one more look at the Dow right now it's up about 28 points -- -- -- thank you so much all right excellent.