Tag Archive: economy

Definitely A Downturn, But What’s Its Rate of Change?

2019-08-28

US Durable Goods Chicago Fed NAI, Jan 2006 - 2019

The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index (NAI) fell to -0.36 in July. That’s down from a +0.10 in June. By itself, the change from positive to negative tells us very little, as does the absolute level below zero. What’s interesting to note about this one measure is the average but more so its rate of change.

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Germany’s Superstimulus; Or, The Familiar (Dollar) Disorder of Bumbling Failure

2019-08-24

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-24

The Economics textbook says that when faced with a downturn, the central bank turns to easing and the central government starts borrowing and spending. This combined “stimulus” approach will fill in the troughs without shaving off the peaks; at least according to neo-Keynesian doctrine. The point is to raise what these Economists call aggregate demand.

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That Can’t Be Good: China Unveils Another ‘Market Reform’

2019-08-20

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-20

The Chinese have been reforming their monetary and credit system for decades. Liberalization has been an overriding goal, seen as necessary to accompany the processes which would keep the country’s economic “miracle” on track. Or get it back on track, as the case may be. Authorities had traditionally controlled interest rates through various limits and levers.

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Some Brief European Leftovers

2019-08-18

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-18

Some further odds and ends of European data. Beginning with Continent-wide Industrial Production. Germany is leading the system lower, but it’s not all just Germany. And though manufacturing and trade are thought of as secondary issues in today’s services economies, the GDP estimates appear to confirm trade in goods as still an important condition and setting for all the rest.

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Retail Sales’ Amazon Pick Up

2019-08-17

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-17

The rules of interpretation that apply to the payroll reports also apply to other data series like retail sales. The monthly changes tend to be noisy. Even during the best of times there might be a month way off trend. On the other end, during the worst of times there will be the stray good month. What matters is the balance continuing in each direction – more of the good vs. more of the bad.

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US Industrial Downturn: What If Oil and Inventory Join It?

2019-08-16

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-16

Revised estimates from the Federal Reserve are beginning to suggest another area for concern in the US economy. There hadn’t really been all that much supply side capex activity taking place to begin with. Despite the idea of an economic boom in 2017, businesses across the whole economy just hadn’t been building like there was one nor in anticipation of one.

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The Path Clear For More Rate Cuts, If You Like That Sort of Thing

2019-08-15

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-15

If you like rate cuts and think they are powerful tools to help manage a soft patch, then there was good news in two international oil reports over the last week. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecast for global demand growth for the seventh straight month. On Friday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) downgraded its estimates for the third time in four months.

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Why You Should Care Germany More and More Looks Like 2009

2019-08-14

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-14

Germany ZEW Financial Market Survey, 2006-2019

What if Germany’s economy falls into recession? Unlike, say, Argentina, you can’t so easily dismiss German struggles as an exclusive product of German factors. One of the most orderly and efficient systems in Europe and all the world, when Germany begins to struggle it raises immediate questions about everywhere else.

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The Myth of CNY DOWN = STIMULUS Won’t Die

2019-08-11

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-08-11

On the one hand, it’s a small silver lining in how many even in the mainstream are beginning to realize that there really is something wrong. Then again, they are using “trade wars” to make sense of how that could be. For the one, at least they’ve stopped saying China’s economy is strong and always looks resilient no matter what data comes out.

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China’s Big Gamble(s): Betting on QE Again?

2019-07-30

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-30

As an economic system, even the most committed socialists had come to realize it was a failure. What ultimately brought down the Soviet Union wasn’t missiles, tanks, and advanced air craft, it was a simple thing like bread. You can argue that Western military spending forced the Communist East to keep up, and therefore to expend way too much on guns at the expense of butter.

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Real Estate Perfectly Sums Up The Rate Cuts

2019-07-28

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-28

NAR Existing Home Sales, Jan 2011 - May 2019

It’s only a confusing when you just accept the booming economy of the unemployment rate. From this perspective, 2018 was, and more so 2019 is, a downright conundrum. By all mainstream accounts, this just shouldn’t be happening.

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US Economic Crosscurrents Reach the 50 Mark

2019-07-27

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-27

U.S. PMI Chicago Fed NAI, Jan 2006 - July 2019

In the official narrative, the economy is robust and resilient. The fundamentals, particularly the labor market, are solid. It’s just that there has arisen an undercurrent or crosscurrent of some other stuff. Central bankers initially pointed the finger at trade wars and the negative “sentiment” it creates across the world but they’ve changed their view somewhat.

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Germany Struggles On

2019-07-25

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-25

Germany ZEW Financial Market Survey, Jan 2006 - 2019

The popular image of the German industrial machine politics is one which has Germany’s massive factories efficiently churning out goods for trade with the South of Europe (Club Med). Because of the common currency, numerous disparities starting with productivity differences had left the South highly indebted to the North just as the Global Financial Crisis would strike.

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What Does It Mean That Real Estate, Not Equities, Is Driving Monetary Policy?

2019-07-25

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-25

New Home Sales Population Adjusted, 1987-2019

In the world of assets classes, I don’t believe it is equities which hold the Federal Reserve’s attention. After the 2006-11 debacle, the big bust, you can at least understand why policymakers might be more attuned to real estate no matter how the NYSE trades. It may be a decade ago, but that’s the one thing out of the Global Financial Crisis which was seared into the consciousness of everyone who lived through it.

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Monthly Macro Monitor: We’re Not There Yet

2019-07-21

by Joseph Y. Calhoun

2019-07-21

I first wrote about the current economic slowdown a year ago and Jeff Snider actually started seeing signs of slowdown in the Eurodollar market as early as May 2018. So, the slowdown we’re in now certainly isn’t a surprise here at Alhambra. I think though that we often forget how long these things take to develop.

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Globally Synchronized, After All

2019-07-20

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-20

For there to be a second half rebound, there has to be some established baseline growth. Whatever might have happened, if it was due to “transitory” factors temporarily interrupting the economic track then once those dissipate the economy easily gets back on track because the track itself was never bothered.

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As Chinese Factory Deflation Sets In, A ‘Dovish’ Powell Leans on ‘Uncertainty’

2019-07-14

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-14

It’s a clever bit of misdirection. In one of the last interviews he gave before passing away, Milton Friedman talked about the true strength of central banks. It wasn’t money and monetary policy, instead he admitted that what they’re really good at is PR. Maybe that’s why you really can’t tell the difference Greenspan to Bernanke to Yellen to Powell no matter what happens.

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How To Properly Address The Unusual Window Dressing

2019-07-05

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-07-05

Unable to tackle effective monetary requirements, bank regulators around the world turned to “macroprudential” approaches in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. It was mostly public relations, a way to assure the public that 2008 would never be repeated. A whole set of new rules was instituted which everyone was told would reign in the worst abuses.

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Japan’s Bellwether On Nasty #4

2019-06-25

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-06-25

Japan Industrial Production, NSA 2009-2019

One reason why Japanese bond yields are approaching records like their German counterparts is the global economy indicated in Japan’s economic accounts. As in Germany, Japan is an outward facing system. It relies on the concept of global growth for marginal changes. Therefore, if the global economy is coming up short, we’d see it in Japan first and maybe best.

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When Verizons Multiply, Macro In Inflation

2019-06-16

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2019-06-16

Inflation always brings out an emotional response. Far be it for me to defend Economists, but their concept is at least valid – if not always executed convincingly insofar as being measurable. An inflation index can be as meaningful as averaging the telephone numbers in a phone book (for anyone who remembers what those things were).

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