Category Archives: Economic News

Despite it being a fairly quiet Independence Day week, a few significant releases made the news and affected markets later in the week. (+) The ISM manufacturing index came in a bit better than expected, rising from 49.0 in May … Continue reading →

(-) The third and somewhat final estimate of first quarter GDP was revised downward—and quite dramatically—from the second estimate of 2.4% down to 1.8%.  The revision was based entirely on a reduction in consumer services consumption growth, which ended up … Continue reading →

This week’s news was highlighted by the FOMC meeting, which resulted in a reiteration of the current policy of accommodative mortgage and treasury bond buying.  However, further comments regarding the timing of the inevitable ‘tapering’ off of QE down the … Continue reading →

The Federal Open Market Committee completed their meeting this morning, and the conclusion was much the same as we’ve come to expect:  continued stimulus in the form of $85 billion in bond purchases a month with the same targets (6.5% … Continue reading →

(+) The highest-profile economic release of the week, May retail sales, were a bit higher than expected with a gain of +0.6% versus a forecasted +0.4% (including seasonal adjustments that first lowered April retail sales from +0.5%, to -0.1%, then … Continue reading →

On June 3rd, 2013 Lord Abbett posted a great article that was referencing “Why Bondholders May Not Need Worry.” https://www.lordabbett.com/advisor/commentary/marketview/great-rotation-why-bondholders-may-not-need-to-worry/ This was a great article that shows that although May was a difficult month for bonds the average investor still … Continue reading →

(-) The ISM Manufacturing report came in a bit weaker than expected, falling from April’s 50.7 to 49.0 for May, compared to the 51.0 level anticipated and pushing the measure to its lowest level in three years.  Weaker underlying components … Continue reading →

The end of the Bull Market is being declared by many experts.  In the upper chart in December of 1982 the 10 year treasury was 16%.  The 10 year treasury was 1.65 earlier this year and is currently around 2.20%.   … Continue reading →

In a shortened holiday week, only a few memorable economic releases were featured. (-) Consumer spending for April was weaker than expected, falling -0.2% versus an anticipated flat reading and March growth was revised downward a tenth.  Sales as gas … Continue reading →

Labor Markets (+) The initial jobless claims number after seasonal adjustment was 340,000 in the week ending May 18, slightly lower than the expected 345,000.  Filing for first-time unemployment insurance benefits fell by 31,000 compared to the same time last … Continue reading →

  May’s Conference Board Consumer Confidence report is the latest piece of data to suggest that recent months have seen a significant strengthening of the US economic cycle and we are unsurprised that the strong rebound in housing, together with … Continue reading →