Posts Tagged PPI
U.S. Producer Price Index At -0.1% In April
Posted by Belisarius in U.S. Economic Data on May 18, 2010
PPI fell to -0.1% in April vs. 0.1 consensus and 1.7% rise in March.
Chart 1. U.S. Producer Price Index
Source: BLS
Producer Price Index Falls To -0.6% In February
Posted by Belisarius in U.S. Economic Data on March 17, 2010
Inflation? I would say no till further notice. PPI fell to -0.6% in February vs. -0.2 consensus and 1.4% in January. Producer margins? Squeezed.
Chart 1. U.S. Producer Price Index
Source: BLS
Credit Card Charge-Offs Weigh on the Markets
Posted by Belisarius in Markets on December 15, 2009
U.S. credit companies reported delinquencies and charge-offs for November. Nice sum-up by Reuters: U.S. credit card charge-offs resume climb. It doesn’t look nice. Looks like American Express (AXP) is most aggressive in addressing the situation and they are apparently managing to show some improvements. Capital One (COF) again with worsened numbers. Nice group of potential short plays, will be watching closely.
Earlier today I commented on Industrial Production and PPI which were modestly positive. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey and NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, on other hand, came out to be negative.
Industrial Production & PPI
Posted by Belisarius in Markets on December 15, 2009
Industrial production rose 0.8% in November vs. 0.6% consensus and 0.1% rise in October. Capacity utilization was at 71.3% in November vs. 71.2% consensus and 70.7% level in October. So, moderate surprise to the upside.
Producer prices rose 1.8% on a monthly level and 2.7% on a year level. If we take food and energy out the figures would be 0.5% and 1.2%. On first look an improvement, but if we look at the details, still weak pricing power by the producers.
Foreign demand for long-term U.S. Securities fell almost 50% in October to $20.7bn. The decreased demand evidently leaded to steepened curve in last weeks.
Magnificent Ben
Posted by Belisarius in Markets on November 17, 2009
Ben Bernanke speech yesterday has win over the markets and the positive vibes were hitting the markets even today. Nothing special in the speech, both bulls and bears had their moments, but as bulls are currently in the lead the print was positive in all.
Interesting, Mr. Bernanke admitted influencing stock markets:
Housing And Currencies In Focus
Posted by Belisarius in Markets on October 20, 2009
Housing starts rose 0.5% in September to 590k units vs. 615k consensus representing 2.8% growth. August data was revised down from 598k units reported last month to 587k units. If we take this into account the consensus was projecting 4.7 increase; and the reported figure was 0.5%. Bloomberg link: Housing Starts in U.S. Increased Less Than Forecast.
Building permits also fell 1.2% to a 573k annual rate last month. They were forecast to climb to a 595k pace from 579,000 in August. The sluggish housing data continues.
Falling Volatility
Posted by Belisarius in Markets on September 15, 2009
A lot of economic data coming from the US today. Producer price index coming at 1.7% vs. 0.8% consensus on the monthly level and -4.3% vs. -5.3% consensus on year level. Surprise to the positive side. Retail sales were up 2.7% vs. 1.9% consensus in August, taking out Autos and Gas +0.6%. Also, positive, but definitely not breath taking.
Belisarius Recommends
