Deeper Analysis
U.S. Manufacturing Advantage Narrows Relative to Euroland
March 1, 2021
Whereas the Institute of Supply Management’s monthly purchasing managers index, a measure of operating conditions where values above 50 imply increasing degrees of improvement and vice versa, increased 2.1 points in February to robust 60.8, the IHS-compiled euro area PMI climbed 3.1 points to 57.9. Consequently, the difference between those two data series narrowed by […] More
February 2021 in Figures
February 27, 2021
Extreme financial market volatility on the final business day of February exerted a significant effect on monthly changes shown in the table below. The ten-year U.S. Treasury yield, for example, plunged from last week’s 12-month high of 1.61% to 1.40% at yesterday’s close, and the prices of oil and gold sank 3.2% and 2.6% on […] More
U.S. Pandemic Trends Since the November Election
February 23, 2021
February 22nd used to be a national holiday celebrating the birth of George Washington in 1732, but it was a solemn occasion in America this year, as the number of identified U.S. deaths from Covid-19 surpassed half a million people. That’s greater than the number of combined U.S. deaths from World War II, the Korean […] More
U.S. Economic Fundamentals and the Dollar
February 11, 2021
The dollar is currently much closer to its 52-week lows than its highs over that period against the euro, yen, Swiss franc, Chinese yuan and on a trade-weighted basis. Depreciation has been very orderly overall. The decline has transpired in fits and starts, and cumulative losses are moderate compared to many historical periods of slide. […] More
U.S. Manufacturing Advantage Versus Euroland Narrowed Last Month
February 1, 2021
The differential between the ISM’s U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index and the IHS-compiled Euroland PMI narrowed 1.4 points in January. At +3.9 points, such was similar to November’s spread between the two data points. The U.S. index fell 1.8 points below December’s 27-month high of 60.5, as reductions in the demand and production sub-components offset […] More
January 2021 in Figures
January 29, 2021
Sovereign debt yields rose more rapidly in North America than in Europe or Japan during January. Among central banks followed in this feature, no policy interest rates were changed this month. Equity selling in the final week of the month resulted in slight net losses for most markets in January, and newfound caution aided the […] More
December Sees Largest U.S. Versus Ezone Manufacturing Sector Advantage Since April
January 5, 2021
The announced existence of effective Covid vaccines lifted conditions faced by manufacturers in both the United States and Euroland in December. U.S. conditions according to the Institute of Supply Management improved by 3.2 index points to a 28-month high of 60.7. Euroland’s IHS-compiled manufacturing survey index rose 1.4 points to a 31-month high of 55.2, […] More
December and 2020 in Figures
January 1, 2021
During 2020, the federal funds was slashed 150 basis points, the Bank of England base rate was cut 65 basis points, but benchmarks at the European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank and Bank of Japan were already very low and didn’t fall additionally. Sovereign debt yields in 2020 fell a whole lot more in the […] More
November 2020 in Figures
November 30, 2020
November was a momentous month both within financial markets and surrounding news. in the price of gold was only slight. Donald Trump became only the sixth incumbent president since 1900 to lose his bid for reelection. More rare, his political party picked up seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and stands a decent chance […] More
White House Transitions and Financial Market Volatility
November 13, 2020
This update examines how financial markets performed between America’s Election Day in early November and the ensuing presidential inauguration on the following January 20th. It considers only those times when the party affiliation of the president changed, which happened five times between 1980 and 2016. More times than not, these periods experienced market volatility of […] More
