The stock market has given up most of its early gains this morning after a rise in weekly jobless claims and poor existing home sales numbers. Initial claims for unemployment benefits jumped 34,000 to 386,000 last week according to the Labor Department. Unemployment data is notoriously volatile in July because of auto plants retooling.

Existing home sales fell more than 5% in June, but prices did rise. Median prices for a home resale rose nearly 8% in June from the previous year to $189,400.

While the major indexes are still positive this morning they are off their highs. The Dow is currently trading up 15 points, the Nasdaq up 21 points and the S&P 500 up 3 points. [Read more...]