DATA FLASH: US MAY RETAIL SALES SURGE BY 17.7% ON REOPENINGS
–Retail Sales Excluding Motor Vehicles Rose 12.4%; Vehicle Sales Surge 44.1%–Industrial Production Rose 1.4%, Motor Vehicle Production Rebounds by 120.8%–NAHB Index Jump To 58 in June From 37 in May, Suggests Stronger Home Building Ahead–Business Inventories Down 1.3% in April, Business Sales Down 14.4% By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – As social distancing eased in […]
DATA PREVIEW: WAS MAY THE TURNING POINT? LET’S FIND OUT
By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The May U.S. data have been modestly uplifting to this point, specifically the surprise payrolls gain and lower unemployment rate, improved inflation data, and a smaller contraction in manufacturing conditions. None of it came close to making up for the terrible March and April readings, but it’s a start. […]
DATA PREVIEW: PROTESTS COMPLICATE FOMC STATEMENT AMID RECOVERY
By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – After the May employment report showed slight improvement after the overwhelmingly negative April report, the attention in the week ahead turns to the monthly U.S. inflation reports and Wednesday’s FOMC meeting, as well as the first look at June consumer confidence. The FOMC meets Tuesday and Wednesday at a […]
DATA FLASH: LACK OF DEMAND KEEPS US HOME BUILDING DEPRESSED
By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) -The U.S. April home building data, released Tuesday, reflected the lack of buyer traffic and reduced demand that has been in place since mid-March, even as mortgage rates remain near record lows. Construction was labeled as an essential business in most states during the social distancing shutdowns, but without demand […]
DATA FLASH: US APRIL RETAIL SALES DOWN 16.4% AS CRISIS CONTINUED
–Non-store Retail Sales Rose 8.4%, Other Categories Down–Empire State Index Rose to -48.5 in May from -78.2 in April–Industrial Production -11.2%, Manufacturing -13.7% on Vehicles By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Social distancing continued in April, cutting further in almost every retail sale category, data released Friday morning showed. At the same time, industrial production […]
US APRIL DATA WILL BE MORE OF THE SAME; EYES ON FRIDAY’S MAY DATA
By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The mid-month consumption, production and price reports for April released next week will be extremely weak, and as a result will likely be shrugged off by markets that are already numb from all the bad news. Instead, attention should be focused on next Friday’s release of the May Empire […]
WHITE HOUSE WATCH: HAPPY ENDING, UNHAPPY ENDING OR NO ENDING?
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Amid all the bad virus news there are a few nuggets of good news. How much good news could there be when another 2,000 or more Americans are killed by the virus every day. One set of projections see that increasing to 3,000 a day by the end of […]
WHITE HOUSE WATCH COMMENTARY: ‘PLENTY OF PROTEIN IN THE (HOBBLED) FOOD CHAIN’
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Kroger, with 2,700 stores, says some of them will have purchase limits on ground beef and pork, just as many other grocery chains have been imposing for weeks. It’s the end of the week and maybe you’ve run out of things to worry about. We can help. There is […]
DATA FLASH: US RETAIL SALES PLUNGE 8.7% AS CONSUMERS STAYED HOME
–Food Store Sales Jump 25.6%, Most Other Categories Fall Sharply–Empire State Index Drops to -78.2 in April from -21.5 in March–Industrial Production Falls 5.4%, Manufacturing Down 6.3%, Lows Since 1946 By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – As U.S. consumers heeded government warnings to remain home to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and most business were […]