Category Archives: Economic News

Economic Update: It was a busy economic week—particularly in terms of housing and inflation indicators. (0) The March Consumer Price Index declined -0.2% on a headline level, which was lower than the flat reading expected.  The core CPI, which excludes … Continue reading →

Economic Update (-) Retail sales for March came in weaker than expected, down -0.4% on a ‘headline’ level as opposed to consensus expectations of a flat reading.  The biggest impacts resulted from a -0.6% drop in auto sales and a … Continue reading →

The chart of the week looks at the various quantitative easing programs and how they have impacted the markets.  It also demonstrates that when these programs end investors

It was a downbeat week, at least relative to many so far this year, but we knew there needed to be a pause in the flurry of good news at some point. This did not come as a drastic surprise, … Continue reading →

There has been a lot of talk lately about the bond crisis and the potential for a correction.  J.P. Morgan created a chat that shows how various asset classes historically react in different types of inflationary environments. 

(+) Durable goods orders were stronger than expected overall for February, at a gain of +5.7% versus an expected +3.9% increase.  The ex-transportation component, however, lost ground of -0.5% for the month, which lagged the forecasted gain of +0.6%.  Finally, … Continue reading →

With the recent market rally there has been a lot of talk about the sustainability of this run up.  It is important to always take a step back and keep things in perspective.  When building an investment strategy,

It was an especially busy week of the month for housing-related data. (-) Existing home sales rose +0.8% for the month of February, which was a bit light compared to the +1.6% gain expected (however, a revision upward for the … Continue reading →

The Fed Open Market Committee completed their March two-day meeting with no significant changes to their policy or communication to the outside world. However, they did acknowledge an improvement in the nation’s growth prospects (to ‘moderate’), as noted by economic … Continue reading →

The big news of the week from an economic front was arguably the government sequester that took hold as promised on March 1. Interestingly, this strategy has traditionally been considered as an option so unpalatable to politicians that it would … Continue reading →