Author Archives: LSAConnect

Fed Update

Fed Note: The FOMC meeting ended with little fanfare as theories continued to swirl about surrounding the timing of the Fed’s choice to raise interest rates.  Will it be June or will it be September?  Or, will it be later?  The Fed didn’t … Continue reading

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Chart of the Week: Benefits of Bank Loans in a Portfolio

Chart of the Week: Benefits of Bank Loans in a Portfolio Despite almost $36 billion exiting the loan market and negative net fund flows for the past 11 months, Lord Abbett believes that bank loans still have features that make them attractive … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 4-27-2015 In a light week for economic releases, durable goods came in somewhat better than expected, led by aircraft orders, while housing also showed some mixed signs of life.  Housing has been sporadic over the last few years, which … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 4-20-2015 Economic results on the week were in keeping with the recent lackluster trend, with weaker-than-expected retail sales and manufacturing.  Inflation came in a bit stronger, but remains flat to slightly negative on a year-over-year basis when energy price … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 4-13-2015 Economic data was light and results mixed last week with the ISM services report coming in a bit weaker, but jobs reports—JOLTs and claims—better than consensus.  The FOMC minutes generally read as expected, with differing views on the strength of the … Continue reading

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Brian Wesbury ‘The Triple Mandate’

Listen to Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist at First Trust Portfolios, discuss a third mandate of today’s Fed that goes one step beyond maximum employment and price stability and why he believes we are still destined for a rate hike in June. This … Continue reading

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Chart of the Week: Is Job Creation Holding Back Rate Hike?

Chart of the Week Last Friday, the nonfarm payrolls numbers, a closely watched gauge regarding the employment market, for the month of March were announced at a disappointing 126,000 new jobs, a far cry from the 245,000 economists estimated. This … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 4-06-2015 Despite being a shortened holiday week, it was busy due to a number of economic data releases.  Good news came from upside surprises in factory orders, firmer housing data and a better consumer confidence reading; bad news … Continue reading

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Ben Bernanke Launches Blog

In the midst of all the uncertainty of Fed policy, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the following announcement: “Now that I’m a civilian again, I can once more comment on economic and financial issues without my words being … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 3-30-2015 Last week’s economic data was relatively lackluster, with sporadic results from durable goods, while housing came in similarly to slightly better than expected. Inflation remained slightly negative on a headline basis and below-average on a core level. Equity … Continue reading

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Weekly Economic Update

Economic Update 3-23-2015 In a somewhat light week for economic reports, the FOMC meeting was the highlight—in which no action occurred, other than a subtle language change that stemmed the persistent rise in the dollar. Several housing reports showed lackluster … Continue reading

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Chart of the Week: Fed Not Impatient

Chart of the Week This week’s charts are Dot Plots, a visual depiction of the expectations FOMC meeting participants hold of where the federal funds rate should be in different points in the future. The dropping of the term ‘patient’ … Continue reading

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