Consumer Confidence Holds Steady in March - 2004-03-30
Consumer confidence, which dropped sharply in February, remained relatively steady in March as worries continue about the job market, according to a business research group.

Tax refunds, low interest rates, which has spurred more mortgage refinancing, and other incentives should continue to motivate consumers to spend in the short term, but economists worry about the second half of the year.
Read the full story at The Californian

Mortgage refinancing all the rage -- again - 2004-03-30
The lowest mortgage rates since last summer are starting another round of refinancings this year.

Who's even left to refinance a mortgage?

Last year's fence-sitters, said D.C. Aiken, an economist and executive at HomeBanc Mortgage in Atlanta.

"People sat on the fence in June," he said Tuesday. When rates went back up in the middle of that month, they never completed the refinancing process, he noted.
Read the full story at Oakland Tribune