No Recession? No Inflation? Don’t Make Me Laugh!
The anticipated bear market bounce in Financials has led to the usual fools’ chorus that the worst is behind us, the economy is on...
WSJ: States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls
Nice interactive chart on the Beige Book accompanies this realistic article on the precarious conditions of State finances: "The...
PPI, Retail Sales
Tax-rebate-goosed June Retail Sales rose less than forecast, up 0.1% headline and 0.8% ex-autos. Consensus was for gains of 0.4%...
Five phases to the current down-cycle
Interesting analysis via David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch: "There have been five phases to this current down-cycle – the first...
Which Costs More, the Car or the Gas?
Floyd Norris points out that in the annual cost of ownership equation, fuel prices are nearing the cost of the vehicles themselves!...
Odd Economic Indicator: Its in the Bag!
Sometime ago, Dan Gross got us thinking about all manner of weird economic indicators. This one, via Merrill Lynch, falls cleanly into...
Grant: ‘This Time Is Different’ for U.S. Consumers
James Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, and Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and a former...
Consumer Sentiment Drops to 28 Year Low
Confidence among U.S. consumers fell in the month of June to the lowest level in 28 years. The culprits are record-high energy costs and...
The Beginning of Demand Destruction?
Earlier today, we looked at the decrease in miles driven in the US (Chart of the Day: US Miles Driven). Let’s put that into some...