The “expected” scenario, a resumption of trade talks, is what emerged from the G20 meetings. The best the agreement between Presidents Trump and Xi did was to temporarily reduce the specter of further growth killing tariffs. We still have the existing ones that have significantly slowed world trade, created a “soft patch” in the U.S.’s economy, and contributed to the emerging recessions in Europe and China. Capital spending growth is …Read More
Tag Archives: china
Key Indicators Have Peaked; Markets Hope for Soft Landing
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a private sector company, is the entity responsible for officially labeling recession start and end dates. As a rule of thumb, the financial markets use two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth as the marker. But, that is not the way the NBER sees it. According to their website, the NBER defines a recession as: “a significant decline in economic activity … lasting more than …Read More
4/10/2019 Equity Market Appears to be Moving to the Sound of Its Own Drummer
There were several recent market moving reports, including some positive data on U.S. and Chinese manufacturing. But, the biggest news was the seemingly positive March employment data which sent equity markets up, as the initial take on the headline Establishment Survey (ES) data (+196k) fit the narrative that the soft economic patch is now passing and a recession will be avoided. Because it doesn’t fit the narrative, there has been …Read More
5/27/2019 Bonds, Not Stocks, Reflect the State of the Economy
The equity markets have gyrated around tariff and trade news (and Presidential tweets), falling when, at the last minute, the expected trade deal with China fell apart, and then fluctuating around various trade announcements, going up when they looked hopeful, and falling when they did not, including additional tariffs put on by both sides, suspension of European auto tariffs, and a deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on our …Read More
Where’s The Recession, You Ask? Reprise
The narrative is that the “soft patch”, now so evident in U.S. data, is temporary, related to factors like weather, the government shut-down, and/or trade/tariffs. The Atlanta Fed, where GDP forecasts always seem to come out on the high side, put Q1’s real GDP growth at just +0.3%. And, the N.Y. Fed’s model says +0.9%. In any case, even the most ardent bulls have at least recognized that current data …Read More
The Rocky Road to “Normal”
The terms “normal,” “normalize,” and “neutral” are common in today’s economic discussions. But, does anybody really know what “normal” is? When the Federal Reserve (Fed) says that it wants to “normalize” interest rates, do they have a rate scheme in mind? Does it mean that rates will be similar to what they were 10-20 years ago? That’s what most people believe “normal” is. The truth is “normal” is significantly lower. The current …Read More
