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Gloom and Mydoom Got Your System Down?
The Mydoom worm that has infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide is expected to continue operating in both its variants through Thursday, Feb. 12.
If your computer is infected by Mydoom, removal instructions, software and security responses are available online through the Internet security companies, McCaffee and Symantec/Norton Anti-Virus. Both offer removal tools to subscribers.
- To remove Mydoom using McCaffee software, click here then click one of the two EXTRA.DAT files available to download and activate the removal tool. To subscribe to McAffee anti-virus software, click here.
- To remove Mydoom using Symantec software, click here and follow the removal instructions on your screen to download and activate the removal tool. To subscrie to Symantec anti-virus software, click here.
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Condominiums the Brightest Spot on the Horizon for Multifamily Housing Industry This Year
Multifamily builders looking for good economic news will have to build condominiums, or be patient for a bit longer, according to NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders and Ron Witten, president of Witten Advisors, Dallas, speaking to an overflow crowd of builders and developers at last month’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas. …
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Housing Snapshot
Mortgage rates increased only a tad last week, less than expected following hints by the Federal Reserve that today's low interest rates won't last forever. Looking ahead, job creation remains the focal point for the economy. While the Labor Department reported last week that 112,000 jobs were created in January, that was well below the pace predicted by the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, which expects 2.6 million new jobs this year. It could be wrong: last year the Administration anticipated 1.7 million new jobs, when there was actually a loss of 53,000. Productivity gains of 4.9% in 2002 and 4.2% last year have been an impediment to a major turnaround in unemployment woes, so it was a good sign that productivity declined to an annual pace of 2.7% in the final quarter of 2003, down sharply from 9.5% in the prior three months. Lumber prices last week continued to climb, although at less than a torrid pace. Random Lengths reported that the price of framing lumber was up $4 to $356 per 1,000 board feet. The mill price for 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood was up $5 to $435 per 1,000 square feet, up from $248 a year earlier; and oriented strand board jumped $25 to $440 compared to $188 a year earlier.
| Mortgage Interest Rates |
| 30-Year Fixed-Rate |
5.72% |
| 15-Year Fixed-Rate |
5.03% |
| 1-Year ARM |
3.61% |
| Housing Starts - Dec. 2003* |
| Total |
2.088 million |
| Single-Family Starts |
1.664 million |
| Multifamily Starts |
397,000 |
New Home Sales
Dec. 2003* |
1.060 million |
Existing Home Sales
Dec. 2003* |
6.47 million |
| * Seasonally adjusted annual rate |
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