Oil prices going up is not inflationary. Inflation is too much money chasing too few goods. |
On the economic plate, next week's really pretty light. The big event is the big event, four letters: F-O-M-C. After the week we just had, we about cleaned up everything; we now have plenty of time to focus on the Fed. |
On the positive side, one survey suggests that more consumers this year are delaying their shopping until later in the season. If that's true, sales will get another boost in December. |
People are aware of what energy prices are doing to their pocketbooks, and their company, |
People don't look at economic data. But they know their own firm, they know if it's solid, they know if it's hiring and if people are getting raises. Even if they're not looking for a job, they know what's going on with their brother or sister or friend's job search. That's what makes these surveys powerful. |
Prices don't decline like this unless you've got a lot of slack demand conditions. |
Private sector job growth is still challenged. The report is not very good for the month alone, but the trends have actually improved, thanks to the revisions. |
Retail sales are kind of floundering here. Clearly, you've got a bit of a flat spot in the first quarter. But after all the spending for autos [last year], we knew we were going to have some of this occur. The question is really how languid the consumer is. |
So while some special factors may be boosting spending, the overall trend of spending is well out of line with income growth. This tells us that this spending trend is unsustainable unless consumer income growth picks up sharply. |
Some of the signals pointing to job market improvement simply did not bear fruit this month. The report makes the economy look even less like it is building a head of steam. |
That mucked up trade flows, affected our economy and brought an unexpected easing by the Fed. I wouldn't downplay the risks out of China. |
The American consumer is like that bad guy in a zombie movie; shoot him; stab him. He keeps coming forward. But in the case of the consumer, it's more like: depress his wage, make him unemployed, ruin his confidence make no job growth, lower his savings rate -- none of it matters, he or she just keeps on racking up those charges. |
The breadth of inflation is contained, ... Inflation pressures are not spreading. This (CPI) report has much more impressive signals than the PPI. |
The breadth of inflation is contained. Inflation pressures are not spreading. This (CPI) report has much more impressive signals than the PPI. |
The claims numbers always do strange things at the end of the year, ... There was some improvement at the turn of the year, but the story is that claims are gravitating back to the 400,000, where they were for quite while. |