Daily Data Flow: Housing Crash Fades on Mortgage Payments; Buffett: Stocks to Go “Far Higher”; Dollar Gains on Yen

Housing Crash Fades as More Homeowners Pay Mortgages (Bloomberg)
American homeowners increasingly are able to pay off their mortgages, marking a contrast from the housing crisis of six years ago. Falling unemployment, rising home prices and banks’ tightening lending standards are factors helping to boost the housing industry. “Mortgage quality is improving rapidly,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics Inc. said. “Once we’re able to work through this last bulge of foreclosed property, which I think we’ll be able to do over the next 18 to 24 months, mortgage credit quality is going to look absolutely beautiful.”

Buffett Predicts Stocks Will “Go Higher” and Warns Not to Invest in Bonds (CNBC)
Amid signs of a recovering economy, Warren Buffett is now predicting that U.S. stock indices will hit all-time highs and even go “far higher” than expected. As of now, Buffett favors equities over bonds, warning that investors could lose a lot of money from bonds due to rising interest rates in long-term fixed-income assets.

Dollar Makes Gain against the Yen (Reuters)
The dollar climbed against the yen for a third straight session, almost reaching the key 100 yen mark, due to strong U.S. labor market data and general optimism of the economy. “A break through 100 yen in the near-term has greatly increased after Friday’s payrolls data because it indicated the economy is not as weak as many had feared,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington D.C.