STOCKS RALLY: Here's What You Need To Know

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 14,856.1, +80.3, +0.5%
• S&P 500: 1,636.4, +6.2, +0.3%
• NASDAQ: 3,596.4, +17.9, +0.5%

And now, the top stories:

• The last few months of housing data has been encouraging despite rising mortgage interest rates. But in recent days, the data has been much worse than expected.
• This morning, we learned that pending home sales fell by 1.3% in July, which was worse than the 0% reading expected by economists. "The modest decline in sales is not yet concerning, and contract activity remains elevated, with the South and Midwest showing no measurable slowdown," said the National Association of Realtor's Lawrence Yun. "However, higher mortgage interest rates and rising home prices are impacting monthly contract activity in the high-cost regions of the Northeast and the West."
• The comes after an awful plunge in new home sales, a deceleration in S&P Case-Shiller home prices, and a lackluster level of housing starts.
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