U.S. GDP
U.S. GDP
February 28, 2019
U.S. real GDP expanded 2.6% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate last quarter, down from 3.4% in 3Q and 4.2% in the second quarter of 2018. Personal consumption and nonresidential investment accounted for all of the rise. Residential construction recorded a fourth straight contraction. Net exports exerted a smaller drag of 0.2 percentage points. Inventories […] More
No Deal Between U.S. and North Korea and a Whole Lot of Data Released
February 28, 2019
The summit between U.S. President Trump and North Korean President Kim ended prematurely without an agreement. Share prices in Asia lost 1.8% in South Korea, 1.3% in Indonesia, 1.2% in Singapore, 0.9% in Hong Kong, 0.8% in Japan but only 0.4% in China. In Europe, there’s been scant net movement in the German Dax or […] More
Dollar Stages Moderate Rebound
December 21, 2018
Broad dollar gains overnight amount to 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.4% relative to the loonie and euro, 0.3% vis-a-vis the peso, Swiss franc, and yuan, 0.2% versus the Australian dollar and 0.1% relative to sterling. Dollar/yen is unbalanced. In the continuing follies that markets have come to expect from the U.S. government, Defense Secretary Mattis […] More
Awaiting Jay Powell’s Speech
November 28, 2018
Fed Chairman Powell delivers a speech before the economic club of NY later today. Such is attracting even more interest than might be expected because President Trump has just escalated his criticism of Powell, calling him a bigger problem than China. In other news today, U.S. GDP growth last quarter was confirmed at 3.5%, the […] More
U.S. GDP Report Deconstructed
October 26, 2018
Good News: Real GDP expanded by a somewhat greater-than-expected 3.5% between 2Q and 3Q, expressed at an annualized rate (SAAR). The two-quarter pace of 3.8% was the fastest since the middle two quarters of 2014, when a 5.0% pace was achieved. On-year growth of 3.0% was the most in 13 quarters and just 0.8 percentage […] More
Fresh Wave of Risk Aversion
October 26, 2018
Investors will get their first peak at U.S. third-quarter GDP in less than an hour. Growth likely decelerated from the 4.2% pace in the second quarter but still probably managed to be at 3.0% or a bit above. But markets are reacting most keenly to the Federal Reserve officials’ disregard of President Trump’s criticism of […] More
All Eyes on the Senate Judiciary Committee
September 27, 2018
The testimonies of Kavanaugh and Blassey Ford start at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT). This has been a busy day already from a central banking and data release standpoint. The dollar overnight firmed by 0.7% against the Swiss franc, 0.6% relative to the Aussie dollar, 0.5% vis-a-vis the euro and loonie, 0.3% against the kiwi, 0.2% […] More
Some weak European and Japanese Data
August 29, 2018
French GDP growth slowed to a 0.2% per quarter rate in the first half of 2018 from 0.7% per quarter in the second half of 2017. In the second quarter alone, personal consumption contracted for the first time since the summer of 2016. Imports advanced five times faster than exports, and net foreign demand exerted […] More
Plenty of News to Focus Upon
April 27, 2018
The meeting between the presidents of South Korea and North Korea agreed to end their multi-decade war and to deescalate nuclear armament. Share prices in the Pacific Rim climbed 1.3% in New Zealand, 1.0% in Hong Kong, and 0.7% in Japan, South Korea, India and Australia. British GDP growth slowed more than forecast last quarter, […] More
Fresh Data to Consider
February 28, 2018
In addition to yesterday’s testimony by Fed Chairman Powell, which if anything raised the odds of more than three interest rate hikes in 2018, investors today have a slew of data releases on this final day of February to consider. Thursday’s data release calendar is very heavy as well. The Pacific Rim picked up the […] More
