A widely followed index indicates the weakest improvement in manufacturing conditions in 19 months, and new home sales dropped significantly.
A widely followed index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas fell by 9.1percentt in December from the month a year ago.
The association's closely followed index -- which is calculated by combining the answers to 12 questions -- rose to 47.9, from 43.6 in July.
On Friday, Michigan's widely followed index of consumer sentiment moved up in a sign that many people believe that the country's recent economic troubles are fading.
Unlike the more widely followed Index of Leading Indicators, which is supposed to help forecast changes in the economy, the coincident index is aimed at simply recording how the economy is doing now.
The Russell 2,000 -- an index that includes the stocks that rank from 1,001 to 3,000 in market capitalization in the United States and is the most widely followed index of small stocks -- rose 5.2percentt last week, better than the Nasdaq, which is dominated by large technology stocks.
Large institutional investors around the world were also buyers -- some through a private placement of the stock today in the United States -- on the expectation that the stock would soon be included in the Hang Seng Index and in a widely followed index published by Morgan Stanley Capital International.
According to a Bear Stearns analysis, half of all mortgage securities that make up a widely followed index allow the servicer to modify the interest rate, principal balance or maturity of a loan; 40percentt allow some modifications but require approval from a ratings agency if more than 5percentt of a pool of mortgages is changed, and 10percentt of loan pools allow no changes.
The Nasdaq, of course, remains a widely followed index.
But several other troubled telecom and broadband firms for now will remain on this widely followed index, thanks to the Nasdaq's moratorium.
