Tuesday: ISM Manufacturing, Construction Spending, Auto Sales

From the LA Times: After subprime collapse, nonbank lenders again dominate riskier mortgages

So-called nonbank lenders are again dominating a riskier corner of the housing market — this time, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, aimed at first-time and bad-credit buyers. Such lenders now control 64% of the market for FHA and similar Veterans Affairs loans, compared with 18% in 2010.

A Times analysis of federal loan data shows that FHA mortgages from nonbank lenders are seeing more delinquencies than similar loans from banks.
...
"The idea that a lot of the folks who benefited during subprime are now back in action calls out for closer scrutiny," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a fair-lending advocacy group in San Francisco.

The surge in nonbank lending also has prompted alarm at Ginnie Mae, a government corporation that monitors FHA and VA lenders. Ginnie Mae's president, Ted Tozer, has requested $5 million in additional federal funding to hire 33 additional regulators.

"These firms have grown so fast," he said.

This is probably not a serious problem, but additional oversight makes sense.

Tuesday:
• At 10:00 AM ET, ISM Manufacturing Index for November. The consensus is for the ISM to be at 50.5, up from 50.1 in October. The employment index was at 47.6% in October, and the new orders index was at 52.9%.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Construction Spending for October. The consensus is for a 0.6% increase in construction spending.

• All day: Light vehicle sales for November. The consensus is for light vehicle sales to decrease to 18.0 million SAAR in November from 18.1 million in October (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).