Forbes magazine published its 27th annual list of billionaires, with most of the usual suspects populating the top of the list. What seems to worry accounting and finance professionals most are energy prices. And serious delinquency rates on single-family mortgages that Fannie Mae owns or insures declined in January to 3.18 percent from 3.29 percent in December.

U.S. personal income took a hit in January, dipping 3.6 percent, the largest drop in about 20 years. Construction spending also shrank in January by 2.1 percent. And Friday was Sequester Day, but little has happened, since most of Congress was out of town and negotiations between the president and the Congressional leaders who were in town were inconclusive.

The real U.S. GDP was up during the fourth quarter of 2012. The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate decreased from 7.17 percent in December to 7.03 percent in January. And initial unemployment claims decreased by 22,000 compared to the previous week’s revised figure of 366,000.

The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index increased 4.5 percent month to month, showing more evidence that the housing market found its legs. Net income for U.S. banks was up by more than a third year over year between fourth quarter 2011 and a year later. And minus a drop in airplane orders, durable goods orders were sharply up by 6.3 percent month over month.