[By his lights it didn't make sense that stocks were unable to hold onto most of their gains Tuesday, finishing the day roughly flat after a jump early on.] The reaction to this data in the past would have been much more positive, ... These days only bad news is carrying weight. |
After periods of a large slump in employment, there may be advantages to canvassing homes, |
After periods of a large slump in employment, there may be advantages to canvassing homes. |
At worst it's a wash-out, ... I don't think the fears or the benefits of the dollar's fall are really quite as much as they're cracked up to be. |
Benchmark revisions could completely recast underlying data, in which case January forecasts won't be useful. |
Beneath the surface, production and inventory, here and abroad, are moving up faster than the rate of demand growth, |
Business conditions are really slack. The latest rally in stocks doesn't change that. |
Consumption is growing, government outlays are growing and the third quarter will look very strong. But going forward, business spending is flat and decisions are being deferred. That can keep us weak for the near term -- neither contracting nor expanding. |
Estimates have to come down, ... We're in for an ugly preannouncement season. |
Estimates have to come down. We're in for an ugly preannouncement season. |
Even if energy hangs out at these historically high levels, headline inflation should slow down in the coming year. |
Exports were flat for a second month running and that has been what is most broken in the trade picture. |
For markets that have recently priced in 'nearly immediate' Fed tightening, [Friday's] data suggest more breathing room, even as tightening is likely to take place when recovery is more deeply entrenched. |
Freeing up less productive resources by accomplishing more with less is the entire basis for rising living standards. It shouldn't come as a surprise that stronger periods of economic growth have generally begun during periods of high unemployment, not low unemployment. |
Friday's number is not going to make much of a difference for the outlook for the economy. |