Napa Mortgage News

It's Time.....Daylight Saving & my teenage daughter driving!

March 13th, 2017 11:29 AM by Dale DiGennaro

Dear Gena,

Daylight saving time begins overnight (at 2 a.m.) Upon awaking tomorrow, our clocks will move forward one hour as mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Some will gripe about losing an hour of sleep, while others are excited about the extra hour of daylight!

Daylight saving time has been a contentious issue worldwide since it was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784.

Although the railroads adopted standard time in 1883, it was not made the law of the land in the U.S. until the Act of March 19, 1918, also known as the Standard Time Act.

Daylight-saving time came and went in the 20th century but was used year-round from 1942 until 1945.

As of 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Here is some documented trivia of the effects of DST:

*According to David Prerau's book "Seize the Daylight," trains always adhere to their published schedules, so when it's time to "fall back" all Amtrak trains that are running on time stop in their tracks and wait an hour before resuming. When it's time to spring forward the trains automatically fall behind schedule at 2 a.m. but just have to do their best to make up the lost time.

*According to National Geographic Nielsen TV ratings during the hours impacted by the change to daylight saving time show large declines during the first week of DST--as much as 10 to 15 percent, even for popular shows.

*A study by Hardee's fast-food chain estimated that extending DST would increase sales by $880 a week per store.

*A 2015 report by the Brookings Institution found that, on the first day of daylight saving time, robbery rates fall by an average of 7 percent.

*Canada experimented with "double daylight saving time" in 1988 and set clocks ahead by two hours at one time in order to capitalize on the long hours of sunlight in the northern latitudes. However....DDST didn't stick.

*Even Antarctica, where there is no daylight in the Southern Hemisphere winter and a stretch of 24-hour daylight in the summer, observes DST at some of its research stations in order to keep the same time as suppliers in Chile or New Zealand.

*As late as 1965 the observation of DST was still not uniform across the U.S. According to National Geographic in Minnesota, St. Paul was on one time, Minneapolis was on a different time, and Duluth was on Wisconsin time. There was even a Minneapolis office building in which the different floors of the building were observing different time zones because they were the offices of different counties.

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Strong Job Gains

Stronger than expected U.S. labor market data was negative for mortgage rates over the past week. Increased expectations for tighter monetary policy from the central banks in the U.S. and Europe also were unfavorable. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week higher.

On Wednesday, ADP, a private payroll firm, estimated that there were an enormous 298,000 private sector jobs added in February, far above the consensus of 190,000. This was great news for the economy. However, faster economic growth raises the outlook for future inflation, making it negative for mortgage rates. Fearing that Friday's more highly regarded Employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would exhibit similar strength, mortgage rates moved higher on Wednesday and Thursday.

The BLS report revealed that the economy added

235,000 jobs in February, a little above the consensus

forecast of 190,000. Although the BLS report was a little

stronger than expected overall, it was weaker than some

investors had feared, and on Friday mortgage rates recovered a portion of their losses.

With the recent string of strong economic data, investors are now nearly certain that the U.S. Fed will raise the federal

funds rate at its meeting on March 15. Investors also have significantly raised their outlook for the pace of rate hikes in 2017. In addition, stronger economic growth in Europe may lead to less accommodative monetary policy from the European Central Bank (ECB). At its meeting on Thursday, the ECB made no policy changes, but the tone of ECB President Mario Draghi's press conference was a little more hawkish. In particular, he said that there is no longer "that sense of urgency" to provide new stimulus measures.

Wednesday will be the big day next week with reports on Retail Sales and CPI in the morning and the results of the Fed meeting in the afternoon. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic output in the U.S., and the retail sales data is a key indicator. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a widely followed monthly inflation report that looks at the price change for goods and services which are purchased by consumers. As mentioned, the Fed is widely expected to hike rates, so investors will be focused on hints about the pace of future tightening. After that, Housing Starts will be released on Thursday, and Industrial Production will come out on Friday.

Its also time for my teenage daughter to get her drivers license!

I was doing ok with it until she sent me this video...

"Thank you for always trusting in us to do the best for you and your family and please feel free to call me anytime you have questions. I will be happy to share with you whatever information you may need!"