Results 1 to 1 of 1

Thread: Economic News for August that you won't see in Mainstream Media ...

  1. #1
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Economic News for August that you won't see in Mainstream Media ...

    ... courtesy of Doug Noland via

    note the 'year to date' percentages interspersed throughout the monthly data ...


    (snip)"Currency Watch:

    The U.S. dollar index declined 0.5% to 81.208 (up 1.3% y-t-d). For the week on the upside, the Canadian dollar increased 0.6%, the Norwegian krone 0.6%, the euro 0.5%, the Swiss franc 0.5%, the Danish krone 0.5%, the British pound 0.4%, the Japanese yen 0.4%, the Singapore dollar 0.3%, and the Taiwanese dollar 0.1%. On the downside, the New Zealand dollar declined 1.0%, the Australian dollar 0.8%, the Swedish krona 0.3%, the Brazilian real 0.2%, and the Mexican peso 0.1%.

    Commodities Watch:

    August 30 - Wall Street Journal (Sameer C. Mohindru): "A Taiwan importers' association bought soybeans Tuesday, in what might seem a routine tender. But it wasn't. Instead of buying one cargo of around 60,000 metric tons, as usual, the... Taiwan's Breakfast Soybean Procurement Association bought three, including one not due for shipping until next July. It was the second time in less than a week that a Taiwanese buyer had taken above-average or far-forward amounts. With prices already in uncharted territory and an even tighter market in the future seeming all but inevitable, soybean importers elsewhere having been locking in supplies, too. Prices for wheat and corn are also soaring... But the time bomb ticking under the global soybean trade is potentially more explosive. Corn and wheat can be substituted for one another for many uses -- but soymeal substitutes are limited, and even costlier."

    The CRB index increased 1.2% this week (up 1.4% y-t-d). The Goldman Sachs Commodities Index gained 0.7% (up 4.7%). Spot Gold rose 1.3% to $1,692 (up 8.2%). Silver gained 2.4% to $31.44 (up 12.6%). October Crude declined $1.68 to $94.47 (down 4%). October Gasoline jumped 2.1% (up 12%), and October Natural Gas gained 2.4% (down 6%). December Copper declined 0.9% (up 1%). September Wheat added 0.3% (up 33%), while September Corn was little changed (up 24%).

    Global Bubble Watch:

    August 31 - Bloomberg (Sarika Gangar): "Sales of corporate bonds globally surged to the most on record for August as issuers rushed to lock in record-low borrowing costs. Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. led borrowers selling $237.6 billion of debt this month, exceeding the $235.3 billion raised in August 2010... Yields fell to an unprecedented low of 3.72% on Aug. 28..."

    August 29 - Financial Times (Kandy Wong): "China's top banks are stepping up their lending activities in the US as large US companies diversify their funding sources and seek to penetrate more deeply into the world's second-largest economy. Chinese banks' share of US syndicated lending has risen to 6.1% of the total market so far in 2012, up from 5.1% last year, according to data from Dealogic. So far this year, the total value of syndicated loans from Chinese banks into the US has reached $51bn."

    U.S. Bubble Economy Watch:

    August 28 - Reuters (Carlos Ruano and Jesús Aguado): "America's 50 state governments owe $4.19 trillion, including outstanding bonds, unfunded pension commitments and budget gaps, according to a new report. At $617.6 billion, California had by far the biggest total debt, more than twice the total of No. 2, New York, with $300.1 billion owed, according to State Budget Solutions, a research and non-partisan advocacy group."

    August 27 - Bloomberg (Shobhana Chandra and Sandrine Rastello): "The worst U.S. drought in at least 50 years may restrain consumer confidence and spending as it pushes Americans' grocery bills higher later this year. Food prices will increase an average 4% annual rate in the nine months ending June 2013, up from 1.5% currently, said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan... That may trim real disposable incomes by 0.3 percentage point from the fourth quarter of 2012 through the first half of next year and reduce spending by a similar amount, he estimates. The projected food-price increase will squeeze budgets of households already contending with a 13% gain in gasoline prices since early July and unemployment that is stuck above 8% three years into the economic recovery... 'Energy is hitting us now, food is going to hit us later," Feroli said. 'It will be a headwind for consumers. It's going to damp people's perceptions of the economy.'"

    August 29 - Wall Street Journal (John D. McKinnon and Scott Thurm): "More big U.S. companies are reincorporating abroad despite a 2004 federal law that sought to curb the practice. One big reason: Taxes. Companies cite various reasons for moving, including expanding their operations and their geographic reach. But tax bills remain a primary concern. A few cite worries that U.S. taxes will rise in the future, especially if Washington revamps the tax code next year to shrink the federal budget deficit."

    Central Bank Watch:

    August 31 - Wall Street Journal (Jon Hilsenrath): "Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wasn't expecting he would have to make another speech like the one he will deliver here Friday. A few months ago the Federal Reserve seemed to be on cruise control as the economy healed. Many officials at the central bank hoped they were done with launching complicated programs to spur a sluggish economy. But Mr. Bernanke and his colleagues, once again disappointed by slow growth and small employment gains this year, are formulating another new dose of monetary stimulus to be considered at their next policy meeting... Mr. Bernanke has argued that when the Fed buys long-term Treasury securities or mortgage bonds, it pushes down long-term interest rates and pushes up prices of assets such as stocks. Fed officials also believe the purchases help weaken the dollar."

    August 31 - Bloomberg (Joshua Zumbrun and Jeff Kearns): "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, lamenting the suffering caused by unemployment of more than 8% and defending his unprecedented actions, made the case for further monetary easing. 'The costs of nontraditional policies, when considered carefully, appear manageable, implying that we should not rule out the further use of such policies if economic conditions warrant,' Bernanke said... Bernanke, speaking two weeks before the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, emphasized that a new round of bond purchases is an option. Stocks and Treasuries climbed and the dollar weakened to a more than three-month low as investors speculated steps to boost the economy may come as soon as next month. 'The door is wide open to the Fed contemplating additional action," said Josh Feinman, a former Fed senior economist who helps oversee $219 billion at Deutsche Bank AG's asset management unit in New York. 'It reaffirms other messages sent by the Fed that additional action is still very much on the table. By the end of the year we'll probably get both rate guidance extension and more asset purchases.'"

    Muni Watch:

    August 29 - Bloomberg (Michelle Kaske): "Illinois, which has the worst-funded pension system among U.S. states, had the rating on its general-obligation debt cut one level to A by Standard & Poor's and may face more downgrades. The change followed state lawmakers' failure to agree to reduce retirement costs during a special session Aug. 17. The outlook for the fifth-most populous state's debt, which now has S&P's sixth-highest grade, is negative. California, with an A- ranking, one level below Illinois, remains S&P's lowest-rated state."(snip)


    major take-aways appear to be ...

    Earlier increases in crude oil prices are now translating into 'record' prices for refined gasoline

    Recent LARGE increases in commodity food prices have yet to percolate to supermarket shelves, but will hit later in the year

    The US FED appears positioned to resume some form of QE ( a.k.a. 'money printing ) in the very near future, which may or may not buoy housing, stock and commodity prices, but which will eventually increase consumer prices.

    Gold and Silver prices continue to increase

    US Corporations are 'reincorporating' overseas in record numbers in preparation for probable increases in overall US business tax rates.

    Certain US states and localities are now beginning to 'hit the wall' in regard to their ability to continue borrowing money via municipal bond issuance at manageable interest rates.

    US individuals, and particularly US individuals with little savings, are 'drawing down' their bank / checking account balances i.e. spending more money than they are earning.
    Last edited by Melonie; 09-01-2012 at 11:28 AM.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 10-30-2008, 08:57 PM
  2. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 10-10-2008, 03:36 PM
  3. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 07-26-2008, 02:15 PM
  4. Replies: 62
    Last Post: 03-19-2007, 07:58 AM
  5. Replies: 9
    Last Post: 06-16-2004, 11:54 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •