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 [...]
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| May 22 2017Japan Nurtures Small Trade Surplus: What's Next?
- 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 [...]
- Global| May 17 2017
Rethinking EMU Inflation and Beyond
Were the Bundesbank alone in the EMU, there would be no rethinking of anything. The Bundesbank and the Germans are sure that they already know it all and they have no doubt about that. When it comes to running policy in Germany, I [...]
- Global| May 16 2017
European Car Sales Plunged in April, Barely Holding Year-on-Year Gain; GDP Advances and the ZEW Survey Is Somewhat Mixed
Today was a big day for European data. I feature the auto sales data which surprised on the low side with a really weak performance. Auto sales and retail sales Sales for Europe as whole fell by 8.7% in April and now only rise by 0.6% [...]
- Global| May 15 2017
Italian Core Inflation Plays Catch-Up With Germany
Italian inflation is accelerating. It is up at a strong pace over three months and six months after lagging the pack in this cycle. In March, Italy had the second slowest pace of core inflation over three months, six months and 12 [...]
- Global| May 12 2017
Manufacturing PMI vs. EMU IP Growth
The manufacturing PMI continues to point to stronger growth while industrial production continues to plod along. Industrial production fell 0.1% m/m in March, the same as February. That hardly seems like what the PMI is referring to. [...]
- Global| May 11 2017
U.K. IP Drops for the Third Month Running; BOE Meets and Holds Rates Steady on Split Decision
Pattern of vicious cycles hits U.K. IP; is it down for good? Industrial output in the U.K. has fallen for the consecutive third month. Oddly that leaves IP up in the quarter gaining at a 1.4% annual rate. That bit of oddness stems [...]
- Global| May 10 2017
Italian and French IP Both Expand in March But Fall in Q1
French and Italian IP both rose in March. In France manufacturing IP gained 2.5% and in Italy it rose by 1.2%, both solid to strong gains. In France the rise more than offsets a fall in February. In Italy the gain builds on a rise of [...]
- Global| May 09 2017
German Surplus Erodes As Exports Fade
German trade data features the headline balance which shows the surplus having diminished in March and export and import data that show a bit of an import surged juxtaposed to an export weakening. The commodity detail lags by one [...]
- Global| May 08 2017
German Orders Rise on the Back of Foreign Order Strength
German orders rose by 1% in March on the back of a strong gain in foreign orders. Foreign orders advanced by 4.8% on the month, their strongest gain since March of last year. Foreign orders broke a seesaw pattern of orders in March, [...]
- Global| May 05 2017
Spain's Industrial Output Stays on a Strong Growth Path
Today I feature Spain's industrial output. It is the Cinco de Mayo which is a Mexican, not a Spanish, holiday (lo siento mucho!-loosely translated that's 'sorry about that'). The holiday commemorates a Mexican victory over the French [...]
- Global| May 04 2017
Retail Sales Continue to Advance in EMU
Euro area retail sales were soft again in March. Nonfood sales are up by 0.2% and up at a 2% annualized pace over three months, at a 0.4% pace over six months and at a 1.7% pace over 12 months. For an economic area sporting its best [...]
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