The German IFO gauge fell month-to-month to 6.5 in April from 8.7 in March in its diffusion presentation. The headline was last weaker for one month in February 2016. It was weaker for a series of four months in a row ending December [...]
Introducing
Robert Brusca
in:Our Authors
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.

Publications by Robert Brusca
Global| Apr 24 2019
Germany’s IFO Erodes
Global| Apr 23 2019
Japan’s CPI and Core CPI Creep Higher
Japan's money supply is showing no change in its rate of growth across its various measures. The respective 12-month and three-month growth rates are nearly identical for M1, M2 and M3 although each aggregate weakens slightly over six [...]
Global| Apr 19 2019
Confidence, Italian Style, Erodes a Bit
Consumer and business confidence peaked in the mature portion of this cycle about 1.5 years ago. As the graphic shows, consumer and business confidence are not always embedded in the same cycle. But the big swings in each series [...]
Global| Apr 18 2019
EMU PMIs Go on Hold in April
The EMU PMI composite index stalled April, at a still growth-indicating 51.3, the same level as in March. In April, the manufacturing sector rebounded slightly, trimming its speed of decline with a 47.8 reading compared to March’s [...]
Global| Apr 17 2019
EMU Trade Surplus Expands on Weak Imports
The euro area trade surplus rose to 19.5 billion euros in February from 17.4 billion euros in January. The surplus is slightly smaller than its 20.2 billion euros surplus of 12-months ago. Month-to-month the balance of trade for [...]
Global| Apr 16 2019
ZEW Optimism Steps Up A Bit
The ZEW financial experts see largely weaker conditions prevailing in April 2019, but they have lifted expectations for all countries in the table except the United Kingdom. The queue (or rank) standings for current conditions are [...]
Global| Apr 15 2019
French Retail Sales Survey Continues to Weaken
The volume of retail sales fell month-to-month, according to the Bank of France retail trade survey. Over 12 months, the gauge is falling by 3.5%. However, it is getting some traction as sales expand at a 0.3% pace over six months and [...]
Global| Apr 12 2019
EMU IP Drops But Manufacturing IP Makes Gains
Euro area industrial production fell by 0.2% in February, leaving January’s 1.9% gain sandwiched between two smaller declines. Output is still rising on balance over three months at a 3.5% annual rate. That’s a reversal of its -2.1% [...]
Ireland's HICP and domestic CPI both point to well contained inflation. At the same time, there is evidence that pressures in Ireland are rising. Does Ireland have the kind of inflation that can be ignored and will return to path or [...]
Global| Apr 10 2019
U.K. IP Shows Mixed Trends
U.K. manufacturing industrial output rose in February by 0.9%, marking back-to-back increases averaging 1% per month for two months in a row. Headline manufacturing growth shows acceleration in progress from 12-months (0.6%) to six- [...]
Global| Apr 09 2019
Italian Retail Sales Tick Higher
Italian retail sales ticked higher in February, rising by 0.1% after a 0.6% January gain. Still, retail performance is poor with nominal sales up by less than 1% over 12 months (0.9%) and dead flat over both six months and three [...]
Global| Apr 08 2019
OECD LEIs Flash Slowdown!
The OECD leading indicators are barometers of economic activity; they are available for a broad set of countries. These indicators show declining LEI values on a broad array of countries and regions with a time series of weakness in [...]
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