One key part of the government shutdown is over as the IRS has resumed providing tax transcripts for mortgage applications, thanks to efforts of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

MBA advocacy is also responsible for the resumption of flood insurance policies, which FEMA had halted at the beginning of the shutdown.

Last week was more notable for the economic reports that did not get released rather than the ones that did.  Retail Sales and Housing Starts were not released due to the partial government shutdown.

This month's Retail Sales report was particularly important because it covered the holiday shopping season in December.

The lack of key economic data has left the Fed flying blind to a degree.  It is extremely difficult to monitor economic growth and missing data only compounds the problem.

As expected, the British Parliament rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal last week.  The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 and much of the exit remains unresolved.


 Source: mbsquoteline