Should Nations with High Unemployment Get Labor Day Off?
ThinkstockLabor Day is a holiday meant to honor the working man and the working woman. Its roots are more than 100 years old now. The question that comes to mind in today’s age of…
Economy
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Newest first · Page 323Case-Shiller: Detroit Still Pathetic
ThinkstockBuried a bit in the S&P/Case-Shiller report for June was the huge lag in Detroit home prices compared with those in the other 19 cities the research measures. Detroit’s home prices mirror the city’s…
Consumer Confidence Far Better Than Prior Warnings Indicated
ThinkstockThe market has to be getting more than just confused about what the hell is happening to consumer confidence and consumer sentiment. The Conference Board released its reading on consumer confidence for the month of…
The Debt Ceiling Debate Could Kill the Bull Market
ThinkstockIt’s back! It is time for yet another round of political infighting over the lovely state of our nation’s finances. Monday was bloodied by undertones of war or military intervention in Syria, but the…
Business Confidence in Germany Hits Highest Level in Almost Two Years
ThinkstockGermans, buoyed by an improving economy in Europe, and likely a modest recovery of the U.S. economy, have become spectacularly confident about business prospects. According to official statistics bureau Ifo: The Ifo Business Climate…
Durable Goods Orders Mimic Recession in July
Courtesy EADS/AirbusThe report on durable goods each month is one of the most volatile of all economic reports. After all, the big-ticket items include consumer durable goods and capital spending efforts. Durable goods for…
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde: Central Banks Should Fix Economies
ThinkstockIMF Chief Christine Lagarde has long been a proponent of government and central bank intervention. It could be argued, but not without dissent, that the philosophy worked during the recession. However, since the recovery…
Leading Indicators Signal More Growth for Rest of 2013
ThinkstockThe Conference Board has released its index of leading economic indicators (LEI). While the name sounds like much a of a preview, it is a July number and we would caution that many of…
PMI from Europe and China Support Global Recovery Story
ThinkstockThe elements that were needed to show that Europe’s economy has started to recover, and that China’s has not slowed as much as was thought during the past few months, showed up in new…
Fed Minutes Confirm Bond Purchase Tapering in 2013, Ending in Mid-2014
The Federal Reserve has released the official minutes from the July 31 FOMC meeting. As many have expected, the minutes are showing that the Fed members are more or less ready to begin tapering…
Fannie Mae Self-Serving: Warns of Fed Tapering Risk as GDP Grows
ThinkstockWhen just about all the new conventional mortgage-backed securities that can be created and sold are being purchased by the Federal Reserve, it should be no surprise at all that the primary securitization outlet…
Americans to Obama: The Economy Is All That Counts
thinkstockPresident Obama cannot run for office again, at least not for the presidency. So, the effects of his approval ratings are academic. However, he may care about how he is considered in his second…
Moody’s Raised State Ratings to Stable Rather Than Negative, but Not at Local Level
U.S. National Park ServiceThe recession was followed by a call from Meredith Whitney that there could be waves of municipal defaults in the years ahead. The bankruptcy of Detroit only brought that fear back…
Do Not Stress the FOMC Minutes for Tapering or QE-End, Now or Ever
Stocks have pulled back from new all-time highs and interest rates have risen more than 100 basis points on the longer-end of the yield curve. Investors are expecting a tapering effect of the $85…
Chicago Fed Measured Poor July National Growth Trends Ahead of FOMC Minutes
ThinkstockTuesday’s top economic report was the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI), which shows that the national economy continued to contract in the month of July. The figure came at -0.15, and 0.0 is…