More Investment Options Would Check Home Prices
Homebuyers at the sales center of a property project in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Feb 29. Cities like Nanjing and Shanghai have announced preferential housing tax policies, which have ignited local enthusiasm for home-buying. [Photo provided to China Daily] China’s banks, financial regulators, government officials and homeowners can all perhaps breathe easier. Despite surface appearances, China’s […]
Empire State And Philly Fed Reports Positive: Worst Over For Manufacturing?
On Tuesday, the Empire State manufacturing region returned to positive territory following seven months of contraction. Today, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing region returned to positive territory following five months of contraction. Is the worst over for manufacturing or is this simply a breather? Let’s start with a look at the Empire State and Philadelphia Fed reports. Empire State […]
Aussie Gains On Surprise Drop In Unemployment Rate
Today’s Economic events Australia employment change 0.3k vs. 11.6k Australia Unemployment rate 5.80% vs. 6.0% BoJ Gov. Kuroda speech Switzerland PPI m/m -0.60% vs. 0.20% SNB LIBOR rate -0.75% vs. -0.75% Eurozone final CPI y/y -0.20% vs. -0.10%; core CPI y/y 0.80% vs. 0.70% BoE leaves interest rates unchanged MPC votes 0 – 9 Canada […]
How Big Were Canadian Upstream Spending Cuts In 2015?
In light of the commodity price downturn that began in 2014, almost every oil and gas company in Canada cut spending in 2015, with focus quickly switching from large scale development of properties to eliminating non-critical expenditures and merely sustaining production as much as possible to survive in the low price environment. But just how […]
When Doves Cry: Imprudently Cautious
If there was one word Yellen emphasized yesterday it was caution. The dot plot reflected that as well. Can one ask if the Fed is being too cautious? Yellen acknowledged that the Fed’s assessment of the US economy had not changed much from December. There is little reason it should. However, it is difficult to reconcile that with the substantial change in […]
GBP/USD Trading Higher As BoE Unanimously Keeps Rates Unchanged
The British Pound traded higher versus other major currencies (at the time this report was written) after today’s BoE rate decision saw interest rates unchanged at 0.50%, as was expected by economists. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously 9-0 to maintain the Bank rate at 0.50%, as in the previous meeting. The MPC also voted […]
March 2016 Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey Also Returns To Expansion
The Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey returned to expansion. Key elements improved. Both manufacturing surveys released so far for this month are in expansion. This is a very noisy index which readers should be reminded is sentiment based. The Philly Fed historically is one of the more negative of all the Fed manufacturing surveys but […]
82.8% Expect Real Incomes Will Decline In 2016
Souring Attitudes Since December, the Fed has gone from pricing in four hikes to two. But that’s not the only thing that has changed. Consumer views regarding earnings expectations are down. So are their views about the stock market. Most importantly, consumers are more worried about the jobs than they were in December. This is […]
3 Stocks & ETFs For Green Returns On St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is here and investors around the world are keen on trying their Irish luck for green returns. This will lead to an upsurge in investments, which act as catalysts to the stocks usually pushing them higher. Will it be possible this year when volatility and uncertainty are ruling the market? The answer […]
Our Economic Growth System Is Reaching Limits In A Strange Way
Economic growth never seems to be as high as those making forecasts would like it to be. This is a record of recent forecasts by the International Monetary Fund: Figure 1. World GDP Forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. Figure 2 shows world economic growth on a different basis–a basis that appears to me […]
