Mortgage applications decreased last week by 1.8% from the previous week. Total volume is down 23.5% from last year. The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.22%. Mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level since November 2016. Applications to purchase a home fell 3% for the week and are up 1% from a year ago. Refinance applications were flat for the week, but are down 41.5% from last year. (Mortgage Bankers Association)

Industrial production rose 0.5% March. Most of that gain was due to the largest increase in utilities output on record. Factory output fell in March by 0.4%. (Reuters)

Consumer inflation in Europe moderated to 1.5% on an annualized basis, and to 0.7% when excluding the volatile food and energy categories. (LPL Research)

Rail giant, CSX, first-quarter profits climbed 2% to $362 million, or 39 cents per share.. CSX said its sales climbed 10% to $2.87 billion. The railroad was hit with a $173 million restructuring charge in the quarter. CSX layed off 1,000 management employees in February. CSX operates more than 21,000 miles of track in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces. Its shares are up 31% in 2017.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.