HOUSING STARTS PLUNGE

Economists polled by Bloomberg are looking for housing starts to fall 4.9% month-over-month to an annualized pace of 950,000 units.

This compares with a 9.8% fall in December to 999,000.

Meanwhile building permits are expected to fall 1.6% to 975,000, compared with a 3% fall to 986,000 the previous month.

Yesterday, we saw homebuilder confidence tumble t0 46 in February.

"Unusually severe weather conditions," and "continued concerns over the cost and availability of labor and lots" were blamed for the slump in homebuilder confidence.