The numbers were considerably more moderate than we and others had expected. We have gotten back to pre-hurricane numbers. (But), I don't view this as the beginning of a sustained downturn. |
The overall manufacturing sector is doing OK with the exception of autos. We continue to see recovery in the industries that were hit by the hurricanes, and then on top of all that it was a cold December. |
The question is, How much of this feeds through all the way down the production process? Do companies end up having to swallow the cost increases or can they pass it through? |
The question now is what impact the hurricane has on the economy and for how long. |
The relatively moderate figures for current conditions should be weighed to some degree against robust expectations for the six-month outlook. |
The report follows the recent pattern of strong growth and no inflation. |
The still-massive swing in the pace of stockpiling in the second quarter sets the stage for an explosive third quarter. |
The stock market has been pretty stubbornly hewing to the idea that the economy is slowing down and the Fed may stop soon, ... So to the extent that people perceive the statement as a little more hawkish, it's maybe upsetting. |
The stock market has been pretty stubbornly hewing to the idea that the economy is slowing down and the Fed may stop soon. So to the extent that people perceive the statement as a little more hawkish, it's maybe upsetting. |
The U.S. economy is simply stronger than that of most of our trading partners and modest currency movements have proven insufficient to remedy the balance. |
The unemployment report, for once, was essentially as expected in November. The employment situation seems to have pretty much worked through the job losses associated with the hurricanes. Now, we wait for those jobs to be recovered over the next 3 to 6 months. |
There is more bad news to come in May. Gasoline will be up sharply, and tobacco will be up. |
There is no signal that the Fed is nearing the end (of its tightening cycle), and that's been the one consistent thing. |
There is sufficient upbeat news on the economy to convince the FOMC to tighten. If the economy warrants a rate hike, the Fed would be doing a great service by delivering. |
There's a game of chicken going on with traders wanting to go short but too afraid of month-end demand to risk it, ... Anyway, nobody wants to be short in a holiday week when anything might happen geopolitically. |