The Tax-less Recovery
It is now old news that the Treasury has reported that the US budget gap for June was just over $94 billion which compares with a surplus of over $33 billion in the same…
Economy
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Newest first · Page 384Will June PPI Even Be Relevant?
Tuesday’s report on the Producer Price Index used as the gauge against wholesale inflation may mark one of the more important trader events outside of earnings. But there is a serious question on whether…
Economic Indicator: Lingerie And Sex Toy Sales Flop
By Patricia Yarberry Allen, MD The loss of sexual interest among menopausal women has clearly become no longer newsworthy in this time of falling stock prices and rising unemployment. Otherwise, why wasn’t it big…
Consumer Sentiment Heading The Wrong Way
The University of Michigan has reported its preliminary consumer sentiment report for July. It seems that the “confidence” portion may be limping back towards impotence. The mid-July report showed a reading of 64.6, down…
World Banks Warns The Worst May Not Be Over
World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, was born in Naperville, Illinois. He was educated at Harvard Law School and worked at Goldman Sachs and the State Department but still has the directness of a Midwesterner.…
Phase II Of The Recession Looms In 2010
The recovery seemed so certain just a month ago. The American economy would be out of the recession before the end of the year. A number of arrows have pointed in that direction. The…
A Gross Exagerration of Future Deflation
Pimco’s Bill Gross on Wednesday released yet another self-serving, but intelligently written diatribe that suggests personal consumption may be constrained for a generation, and all asset classes other than bonds and dividend-paying stocks will…
Chicago Purchasing Managers, Prelude to a Quiet ISM?
Chicago Purchasing managers is frequently used as a preliminary vote for the national report from the Institute of Supply Management. This morning we saw the Chicago Purchasing Managers come in at 39.9. That is…
With Unemployment Moving To 9.6%, Economic Impact Of Jobs Is Just Beginning
The unemployment rate for June is likely to go to 9.6% or higher according to most analyst estimates. There are anecdotes from all over the country that businesses which have cut people are prepared…
Greenspan Slaps At Current Fed Policy
The old Fed and new Fed don’t get along. A day after the FOMC pronounced inflation nearly dead and said that the dynamics of the economic recovery would not allow it to overheat, Alan…
Doing Nothing At The Fed
The Federal Reserve combined an optimistic view of the economy with a set of decisions to leave most of the formal plans it has made over its last two meetings unchanged, according to the…
Surprising Durability In Durable Goods
The report for May’s Durable Goods came in better than expected at +1.8%, and that is still up at +1.1% when you remove transportation from the report. Even on an ex-Defense orders basis it…
What If Companies Don’t Hire People Back?
It is normal for businesses to hire people back after a recession. The improvement in employment usually lags GDP recovery, but the trend is part of a normal cycle that comes at the end…
Housing Market Disaster Worsens
The brief moment of hope that housing had hit a bottom and that both the rate of home sales and prices would improve is slipping away. The pressures that will push prices down, by…
S&P Says US Debt Is Still “AAA”
S&P says it does not like the huge rise in US government indebtedness. But, it clearly thinks the Treasury can make its debt service and eventually pay those hundreds of billions of dollars back.…