Author Archive
Trade, Factory Orders, Pending home sales
Economic Releases
Feb 27, 2019
Can’t be making Tariff Man happy: Highlights The effects of cross-border trade actions have been difficult to pinpoint in the national economic data but outlines may be appearing in goods trade. The nation’s goods deficit swelled to a much larger-than-expected $79.5 billion in December as exports fell 2.8 percent in the month
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Car sales, HK, China default, capex, EU business lending, EU sentiment, Credit card data
Economic Releases
Feb 27, 2019
Chinese state company defaults offshore, first time in 20 years (FT) A Chinese state-owned enterprise from the country’s remote north-west has failed to repay a US dollar bond in Hong Kong, the first offshore default in 20 years and the latest sign investors can no longer rely on Chinese authorities to bail
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MMT in the headlines, Housing starts
Economic Releases
Feb 26, 2019
The notion behind what is called “Modern Monetary Theory,” or MMT, is that as long as the Fed can keep interest rates low without sparking inflation, the national debt and budget deficit won’t be an issue. MMT has been espoused by politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Democratic presidential candidate Sen.
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Japan outlook, Rail traffic, Business inventories
Economic Releases
Feb 25, 2019
Japan downgrades industrial outlook for first time in 40 months (Nikkei) The Japanese government on Thursday downgraded its monthly assessment of industrial output for the first time in more than three years. The Cabinet Office’s economic report for February says “weakness can be seen in some areas” of production, qualifying a view
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*exports to China, Philly Fed, US home sales, durable goods orders
Economic Releases
Feb 21, 2019
Asia’s exports to China plunge as economy stumbles (WSJ) Japan’s exports to China in January sank 17.4% on the year to 958.1 billion yen ($8.65 billion), accelerating from December’s 7% drop. South Korean exports to China in January slid 19% on the year, a steeper rate than in the previous two months
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Euro area PMI, Japan pmi, Misc. global headlines
Economic Releases
Feb 21, 2019
Tariff man, aka Agent Orange, doing a number on global economies… Just went negative: Services moved up some but the trend still looks down: Japan appearing to be collapsing as well: And these recent headlines: Argentina Leading Economic Index The economy of Argentina shrank 0.1 percent month-over-month in January 2019, following a
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Japan exports, California home sales, Arizona home sales
Economic Releases
Feb 20, 2019
Japan exports hit by biggest fall in 2 years on weak China demand (Reuters) Japan’s exports fell 8.4 percent in the year to January. It was the sharpest annual decline since October 2016, and followed a revised 3.9 percent year-on-year drop last December. Japanese exports to China, Japan’s biggest trading partner, fell
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China car sales, Euro sector balances
Economic Releases
Feb 18, 2019
China Total Vehicle Sales Vehicle sales in China tumbled 15.8 percent from a year earlier to 2.37 million in January 2019, following a 13 percent drop in the previous month. It was the seventh consecutive annual decrease in vehicle sales in the world’s largest auto market and the sharpest since January 2012
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US retail sales, Fed comments
Economic Releases
Feb 14, 2019
Starting to look more like most of the rest of the world: US retail trade fell by 1.2 percent from a month earlier in December 2018, following a revised 0.1 percent growth in November and missing market expectations of 0.2 percent gain. It was the steepest decline in trade since September 2009,
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