German real orders fell by a sharp 2.1% in April, but after rising by 1.1% in March and by 3.5% in February. The monthly declines have rolled off German momentum like water off a duck's back. German total orders are still accelerating [...]
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| Jun 07 2017German Orders Log Sharp Fall in April; Still Hold Momentum
- Global| Jun 06 2017
Euro Area Retail Sales Inch Ahead But Still Manage to Look 'Solid Enough'
It is odd how sales can be so weak and yet appear to be so firm. It a trick that retail sales in the EMU area seems to have been able to perform. Real sales are up by just 2.4% over 12 months and just 2.2% for nonfoods. Yet, three- [...]
- Global| Jun 05 2017
Global PMIs Show Some Mixed Trends; All Composite PMIs in the Table Show Growth in May
All the composite PMI gauges in the table show growth in May. This is the second month in a row for which this is true. In March Hong Kong showed contraction; in February, Brazil and Hong Kong showed contraction. Still, out of the 14 [...]
- Global| Jun 02 2017
EMU PPI Barely Gains in April But Year-on-Year Rate Rises to 4.3% from 3.9%
The overall PPI (PPI excluding construction) rose by 0.1% in April after falling by 0.4% in March. The year-on-year pace is up to 4.3%, but the three-month change shows a 0.6% decline at an annualized rate. This unwinds the [...]
- Global| Jun 01 2017
Manufacturing PMIs Show Step Back in Much of Asia
The euro area showed its manufacturing PMI gain in May as the manufacturing PMIs gains in three of the largest EMU economies. But there were step backs in 8 of these key 15 markets. There were also eight for which the three-month [...]
- Global| May 31 2017
EMU Unemployment Continues to Fall Lowest in Eight Years
The lowest unemployment rate in eight years is an accomplishment for the EMU. But of the 11 original members whose data are arrayed in the top of the table, only five have unemployment rates below their respective medians since 1991. [...]
- Global| May 30 2017
EMU Sentiment Drops As Sector and Country Trends Turn Mixed
The EMU sentiment index fell to 109.2 in May from 109.7 in April. The Industrial sector and construction sector held their readings steady month-to-month. The sector diffusion indexes saw consumer confidence pick up in May, rising to [...]
- Global| May 25 2017
Belgium Struggles to Gain Critical Mass in Recovery
The Belgian National Bank indexes reveal a picture of an economy still trying to corral growth. The total industry, manufacturing, wholesale & retail, and construction sector indexes all log negative values in May. Only business [...]
- Global| May 24 2017
PPI Trends in Europe's Early Reporters
Oil has been driving trends in the PPI for some time now (see the chart on the left). Since at least 2006, every single major shift in the PPI growth rate has been preceded by a substantial change in the Brent oil price. The recent [...]
- Global| May 23 2017
European PMIs Scrape the Sky While Japan Scraps the Optimism
Themes of scraping and scrapping emerge this month as the EMU manufacturing and services gauges continue to post strong readings as well as truly stellar readings compared to previous scores in this business cycle. But Japan's [...]
- Global| May 22 2017
Japan Nurtures Small Trade Surplus: What's Next?
Japan's trade surplus backtracked slightly in April and did not expand as expected. While the pattern of surpluses has hinted of a trade turnaround, it now appears that Japan has had a period of an expanding surplus and no longer [...]
- Global| May 19 2017
German PPI Continues to Gain
The German PPI excluding construction (hereafter just PPI or headline PPI) rose by 0.2% in April, the same rate as the PPI excluding energy. But the three-month pace of the PPI gain and the core gain each slowed from their respective [...]
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