The nation’s latest GDP estimate came in at 2.5 percent on the upside compared to an earlier estimate of 1.7 percent for the quarter. The national negative equity rate fell to 23.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage during the second quarter, down from 25.4 percent in the first quarter. And initial unemployment claims dropped by 6,000 for the week ending Aug. 24.

According to NAR, Pending Home Sales Index dropped from 110.9 in June to 109.5 in July, though it’s still higher than a year ago. And the crisis in Syria, and especially the prospect of U.S. military force being brought into the situation, seems to be pushing the price of crude oil upward.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices continued to increase in June. And the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in July, surprised on the upside by increasing slightly in August.

The percentage of delinquent U.S mortgage loans decreased from 6.68 percent in June to 6.41 percent in July. Orders for durable goods dropped 7.3 percent in July. And according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the federal government will reach its borrowing limit sometime in mid-October.

Sales of new single-family houses in July 2013 dropped 13.4 percent compared with June. Travel on all roads and streets dropped by 0.4 percent for June 2013 compared with the same month last year. And Federal Reserve officials concluded their annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. with no certain schedule for the tapering of QE3.

On Thursday, Wall Street experienced its biggest technical fubar since the 2011 Flash Crash, when trading stopped stone cold on the Nasdaq for about three hours, idling trillions of dollars in investment capital. Mortgage rates are continuing their upward creep, but the housing market still seems to soldier on in its recovery. And the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in July to 96.0, following no change in June.

Existing home sales increased 6.5 percent to an annualized rate of 5.39 million units in July from 5.06 million units in June. Although the Fed agreed that “a change in the purchase program was not yet appropriate,” all indices were down yesterday, including Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq.

Zillow reported that its Home Value Index was up 6 percent year over year in July, to a value of $161,600. And economic activity is still below its historic trend, but not quite as far below in July as the month before.

Most states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier. Also, most hospitality markets have made a comeback, with hotel occupancy increasing by 1.9 percent in early August.

Housing starts continued their upward trajectory in July, with private starts coming in at an annualized rate 896,000 units, a 5.9 percent increase compared with June. And preliminary consumer sentiment for August took a dip compared with the end of July.