Global| Apr 28 2008Italy's Biz Confidence Continues to Sink
Summary
Italy’s Business confidence index is in the bottom 30 percent of its range since 1999. Orders are in about the bottom 25th percentile of their range. Orders for consumer goods are in the bottom 15 percentile of their range. Investment [...]
Italy’s Business confidence index is in the bottom 30 percent of its range since 1999. Orders are in about the bottom 25th percentile of their range. Orders for consumer goods are in the bottom 15 percentile of their range. Investment goods continue to be the strongest of the sectors and consumer goods in the weakest sector. The last period in which the business index fell more sharply was in 2001. The index was last lower in early 2005. Production is extremely weak for consumer goods and weak for investment goods. Investment goods production is in the 40th percent of range while consumer goods are in the 11th percentile of their range.
| Italy ISAE Business Sentiment | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since January 1999 | ||||||
| Apr-08 | Mar-08 | Feb-08 | Jan-08 | Percentile | Rank | |
| Biz Confidence | 86.9 | 88.8 | 89.5 | 91.1 | 30.4 | 84 |
| TOTAL INDUSTRY | ||||||
| Order books & Demand | ||||||
| Total | -19 | -16 | -13 | -8 | 23.8 | 78 |
| Domestic | -20 | -16 | -16 | -15 | 26.2 | 78 |
| Foreign | -20 | -17 | -17 | -11 | 29.5 | 62 |
| Inventories | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 66.7 | 51 |
| Production | -14 | -11 | -13 | -12 | 26.5 | 81 |
| INTERMEDIATE | ||||||
| Order books & Demand | ||||||
| Total | -18 | -17 | -14 | -13 | 32.7 | 70 |
| Domestic | -19 | -16 | -14 | -17 | 34.0 | 68 |
| Foreign | -17 | -19 | -21 | -13 | 40.7 | 60 |
| Inventories | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 72.4 | 15 |
| Production | -13 | -13 | -13 | -14 | 31.0 | 62 |
| INVESTMENT GOODS | ||||||
| Order books & Demand | ||||||
| Total | -13 | 1 | -4 | 1 | 38.4 | 59 |
| Domestic | -18 | -6 | -8 | -5 | 36.8 | 64 |
| Foreign | -14 | 0 | -8 | -1 | 33.9 | 60 |
| Inventories | 6 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 62.2 | 34 |
| Production | -4 | 3 | -4 | -1 | 40.9 | 45 |
| CONSUMER GOODS | ||||||
| Order books & Demand | ||||||
| Total | -23 | -22 | -23 | -18 | 13.6 | 92 |
| Domestic | -23 | -23 | -24 | -21 | 13.9 | 88 |
| Foreign | -26 | -20 | -18 | -24 | 19.1 | 89 |
| Inventories | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 53.8 | 66 |
| Production | -21 | -18 | -20 | -17 | 11.1 | 96 |
| Total number of months: 118 | ||||||
Robert Brusca
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
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