US Outlook Report: Consumer Credit Spigot Remains Open There is growing concern as to whether or not the American consumer can continue to prop up the U.S. economy. One place to look for answers is in data on consumer credit, which can be an important indicator of consumer spending on services and durable goods. Solid […]
Continue ReadingU.S. Outlook Report: The U.S. Economy Moving in the Right Direction Global equity markets breathed a sigh of relief this week as U.S. economic data showed signs the economy is continuing to grow. The first positive sign came last week, when Q4 2015 real GDP was revised upward to1.0%, and personal income and spending for […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: The Housing Sector Still On Solid Ground Despite a disappointing new home sales report for January, the U.S. housing market is poised for continued gains in the months to come. More winter-weather in January led to mixed readings on housing starts and new home sales, but it is too early to call […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: Soothing Signs of Economic Growth This week’s influx of somewhat better U.S. economic data and tentative stabilization in crude oil prices provide more evidence that economic contraction in the near-term is unlikely. Importantly, U.S. industrial production growth accelerated to an 11.7 percent annualized pace in January, the best annualized rate of growth […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: One Monetary Step Too Far We have become quite accustomed to financial crises over the past decade: the sub-prime crisis, the housing bubble collapse, the European sovereign debt crisis, Grexit, the oil crisis, and the list continues to grow. Global central banks have largely fought these financial crises with extraordinary monetary policies, […]
Continue ReadingInstant Analysis of Today’s Employment Report for January The January jobs report had something for everyone. Nonfarm payroll revisions confirmed the strength and momentum in job creation in the fourth quarter (averaging +279K net new jobs a month in Q4), but the January figures reveal a noticeable chill in recent trends. January nonfarm payrolls […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: Growth Trends Have Flipped on Their Head Nearly two years ago we wrote a piece on how impressive the economic performance of oil producing states was in 2013 and noted how their performance outpaced the nation by a large margin. Today, in the midst of sinking commodity prices, volatile equity markets, […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: Another Leg Down for Manufacturing It was another week of disappointing readings on the state of U.S. manufacturing. From regional manufacturing surveys to durable goods orders, the near-term outlook for U.S. manufacturing remains moribund. A combination of a strong U.S. dollar and fading demand abroad is having a chilling effect on a […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: Keep One Eye on the Fundamentals Periods of high financial market volatility and plunging oil prices like we have seen so far this year have a way of playing on your emotions. It’s easy to sour on the economic outlook when really your stock portfolio is what’s making you a little queasy. […]
Continue ReadingUS Outlook Report: A Market Swoon or a Black Swan? This was the week for cataclysmic predictions from equity analysts. CNBC was rolling out analysts telling folks to “sell everything.” Investors should take note of periods of heightened volatility, like we have seen over the last few weeks, and take the opportunity to review their […]
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