Housing starts dropped 3.4 percent to an annual rate of 450,000, according to the median forecast of 71 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate report may show wholesale prices rose in February for a second month on higher fuel costs.
Record foreclosures are flooding already glutted markets, lowering home prices and battering builders including Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. The Federal Reserve, which meets today and tomorrow, and the Obama administration are under mounting pressure to promptly thaw credit markets and prevent the - - - - >