Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Monday, November 16, 2015
BRICS? No, CRISIS / Economics / Emerging Markets
By: Raymond_Matison
On Monday, October 23, 2015, the Iranian news agency Tasnim cited its Deputy Minister of Economic Development who announced that Iran would seek to become a participant in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB was officially created by the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - in July of this year, with an initial capitalization of $100 billion. Iran’s participation would allow it, or any other participating country, to develop closer economic, trade and international policy ties with the BRICS nations, and utilize NDB funds for economic development.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
How Many More U.S. Recession Confirmations Do You Need? / Economics / Recession 2015
By: James_Quinn
Despite the bogus BLS employment report last week (so the Fed could raise rates before the next financial crisis hits), all economic data confirms an economic recession. Corporate profits are falling, and their forecasts for next quarter are worse. Global trade is slowing dramatically. Oil prices and other commodities are plummeting to multi-year lows. Manufacturing and Services surveys are flashing red. China, Japan and European economies continue to suck wind. Layoff announcements by major corporations are up 40% over last year. A global deflationary recession is underway. Only a CNBC bimbo, shill or Ivy League educated economist isn’t bright enough to see it.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Brutal Economic News As The World Rolls Over / Economics / Global Economy
By: John_Rubino
Brutal news is pouring in from pretty much everywhere.
US retail sales are flat and wholesale prices are falling. Big retail chains are missing on earnings and seeing their shares plunge.
Chinese nonperforming loans are soaring while imports, car sales and steel production are way down.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, November 13, 2015
Deflation and the Devaluation Derby - A Closer Look at All Those New U.S. Jobs / Economics / Deflation
By: EWI
U.S. labor force participation rate is at its lowest level in 38 years
Editor's note: You'll find a text version of the story below the video.
I was in the café of a bookstore recently and overheard a young man tell his friend, "It's hard to get a job these days, even with a degree."
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Oops The Feds Did it Again- Are They Setting up The Masses for Another Stimulus Program / Economics / Economic Stimulus
By: Sol_Paha
Is the Fed playing mind games with the masses or is it simply another version of Britney Spears hit song "Oops I did it again"? Only this time they did not. They keep mouthing off that they are ready to raise rates and then suddenly just before the moment to pull the trigger draws near; some unforeseeable event springs up, and they kick the can down the road again. Two questions comes to mind.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
BOA's Moynihan: U.S. Consumer Spending Strong in October / Economics / US Economy
By: Bloomberg
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America CEO, spoke with Bloomberg Television's David Westin today about the risks facing the banking industry and the state of the global economy.
Moynihan on U.S. consumer spending: "October is probably one of the strongest months this year relative to October of last year…It's a strong economy…Unemployment levels are down, and wage growth is picking up. That’s all good. Now the question is, what can derail that. And that’s what we have to pay attention to."
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The Business Cycle Is Winding Down / Economics / Recession 2016
By: Rodney_Johnson
From April through October, I race a 37-foot sailboat every Thursday night. The course changes weekly, and ranges from three to seven miles long, depending on the wind.Before the race, we review the course and weather conditions and decide our strategy for the starting line. During the race, we generally enjoy the sail and competition, with only the occasional bout of yelling. We also enjoy a good beer, while on the boat and afterwards when we retire to the local Irish pub.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 09, 2015
Is Japan's Wicked Economic Winter Almost Over? / Economics / Japan Economy
By: EWI
Economic blossoms may bloom again in the Land of the Rising Sun
The winter season is a common metaphor for a bleak period in someone's life: Borrowing a line from Shakespeare, John Steinbeck titled his final novel "The Winter of Our Discontent."
Nikolai Kondratieff used "winter" to describe the worst part of an economic cycle. Indeed, the famous Russian economist used all four seasons as metaphors for the four natural phases of expansion and contraction that an economy goes through in 50 or 60 years.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 09, 2015
U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance Turns Into the Dark Ages / Economics / US Economy
By: Michael_Pento
The October ISM Manufacturing Index, which has been the official barometer of the U.S. manufacturing sector since 1915, came in with a reading of just 50.1. This was a level barely above contraction.
Of the 18 industries surveyed in the Regional Manufacturing Survey, 9 reported contraction in October: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Primary Metals; Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; Wood Products; and Computer & Electronic Products.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 09, 2015
U.S. Jobs NonFarm Payrolls +271,000; Is the Game Changing? / Economics / Employment
By: Gary_Tanashian
I can already tell NFTRH 368 is going to be a flowing thing because there is a lot of on-point material to talk about. So the usual standard charts will be minimized in favor of trying to get a good read on what is in process in the markets, in policy and in the economy.
Specifically, given the October Payrolls data, its effect on interest rates and the US dollar we seem to be back to a point similar to where we were 1 year ago when we used a strong USD (and corresponding weak Yen and Euro) to plot bullish trade possibilities in Japan and Europe, and a bearish environment for US exporters.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
The Fed Desperately Tries to Maintain the Status Quo / Economics / US Federal Reserve Bank
By: MISES
Ronald-Peter Stöferle writes: During the press conferences of recent FOMC meetings, millions of well-educated investment professionals have been sitting in front of their screens, chewing their fingernails, listening as if spellbound to what Janet Yellen has to tell them. Will she finally raise the federal funds rate that has been zero bound for over six years?
Friday, October 30, 2015
Europe in Deflation: Got (cheap) Milk? / Economics / Deflation
By: EWI
Why falling food prices are not a boon for Europe's economy
In the early 1990s, two simple words from a genius ad campaign radically transformed the way the U.S. consumer saw it: "Got Milk?"
Suddenly, the narrative changed from an obligatory drink you had to finish as a kid, along with eating your vegetables -- into a sexy, funny, and above all desirable treat for all ages.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, October 30, 2015
BEA Reports 3rd Quarter 2015 U.S. GDP Growing at Just 1.49% / Economics / US Economy
By: CMI
In their first estimate of the US GDP for the third quarter of 2015, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the economy was growing at a +1.49% annualized rate, down -2.43% from the second quarter.
This report included significant changes in the details as well as the headline. By far the greatest quarter-over-quarter change was in inventories, which subtracted -1.44% from the headline after being essentially neutral during the prior quarter. As we have mentioned before, the BEA's treatment of inventories can introduce noise and seriously distort the headline number over short terms -- which the BEA admits by also publishing a secondary headline that excludes the impact of inventories. This BEA "bottom line" (their "Real Final Sales of Domestic Product") reported a much more respectable +2.93% growth rate for the third quarter.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
The Financialization of the Economy / Economics / Economic Theory
By: John_Mauldin
Roger Bootle once wrote:
The whole of economic life is a mixture of creative and distributive activities. Some of what we ‘‘earn’’ derives from what is created out of nothing and adds to the total available for all to enjoy. But some of it merely takes what would otherwise be available to others and therefore comes at their expense.
Successful societies maximise the creative and minimise the distributive. Societies where everyone can achieve gains only at the expense of others are by definition impoverished. They are also usually intensely violent….
Much of what goes on in financial markets belongs at the distributive end. The gains to one party reflect the losses to another, and the fees and charges racked up are paid by Joe Public, since even if he is not directly involved in the deals, he is indirectly through costs and charges for goods and services.
The genius of the great speculative investors is to see what others do not, or to see it earlier. This is a skill. But so is the ability to stand on tip toe, balancing on one leg, while holding a pot of tea above your head, without spillage. But I am not convinced of the social worth of such a skill.
This distinction between creative and distributive goes some way to explain why the financial sector has become so big in relation to gross domestic product – and why those working in it get paid so much.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
U.S. Economy On the Precipice of Deflation / Economics / Deflation
By: EWI
Weakest economic recovery in seven decades gets weaker
Most people extrapolate present trends into the future. But yesterday's trend can look like day vs. night when tomorrow arrives.
Almost no one expected deflation when the December 2007 Elliott Wave Theorist said:
Inflation has raged, but deflation is next.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Zero Percent Inflation…What’s Next? / Economics / Deflation
By: Harry_Dent
During World War II, the Fed bought its own bonds to keep interest rates low and demand high enough to finance the war effort.
Back then, the Fed’s efforts did what you’d expect: they caused a modest level of inflation.
So you’d expect the unprecedented stimulus of today to create substantially higher inflation. In fact, with the greatest money printing in history, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to fear hyperinflation.
Monday, October 26, 2015
The Global Depression and Deflation Is Currently Underway! / Economics / Deflation
By: Chris_Vermeulen
"The clear and present danger is, instead, that Europe will turn Japanese: that it will slip inexorably into deflation, that by the time the central bankers finally decide to loosen up it will be too late." Paul Krugman, "The Euro: Beware of What you Wish for", Fortune (1998)
Most central bank policy makers, investors, and analysts around the world today are gripped by the worry of declining growth rates, dwindling international commodity prices, high unemployment, and other macroeconomic figures.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Everything’s Deflating And Nobody Seems To Notice / Economics / Deflation
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Whenever we at the Automatic Earth explain, as we must have done at least a hundred times in our existence, that, and why, we refuse to define inflation and deflation as rising or falling prices (only), we always get a lot of comments and reactions implying that people either don’t understand why, or they think it’s silly to use a definition that nobody else seems to use.
-More or less- recent events, though, show us once more why we’re right to insist on inflation being defined in terms of the interaction of money-plus-credit supply with money velocity (aka spending). We’re right because the price rises/falls we see today are but a delayed, lagging, consequence of what deflation truly is, they are not deflation itself. Deflation itself has long begun, but because of confusing -if not conflicting- definitions, hardly a soul recognizes it for what it is.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Why Star Trek Is Wrong: There Will Always Be Scarcity / Economics / Economic Theory
By: MISES
Jonathan Newman writes: With the recent successes and announcements of sci-fi movies and TV shows like The Martian, Interstellar, and new incarnations of Star Trek and Star Wars, no one can deny that we crave futurism and stretching our imagination on what advanced technology can accomplish. Many look to the example of these fictional worlds as an indication of what life might be like when technology can provide for all of our basic needs, a condition some call “post-scarcity.”
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Quantitative Easing Was a Bust; Let’s Try Higher Wages Instead / Economics / Wages
By: Mike_Whitney
Why is the economy still in the doldrums after 6 years of zero rates and three rounds of Quantitative Easing?
It’s because consumers aren’t consuming and there’s too much debt. You see, despite the Fed’s wacko theories about pumping liquidity into the financial system to make investors feel wealthier, people actually have to buy things to generate growth. And the truth is, consumers have reduced their spending because wages are flat, incomes are falling and many of them are still hanging on by the skin of their teeth. So consumption has been unusually weak. Economist Stephen Roach made a good point in an article at Project Syndicate. He said, “In the 22 quarters since early 2008, real personal-consumption expenditure, which accounts for about 70% of US GDP, has grown at an average annual rate of just 1.1%, easily the weakest period of consumer demand in the post-World War II era.” (It’s also a) “massive slowdown from the pre-crisis pace of 3.6% annual real consumption growth from 1996 to 2007.” (“Occupy QE“, Stephen S. Roach, Project Syndicate)
Read full article... Read full article...