Globally the service sector remains weak and it is not stepping up to provide a counterbalance to ongoing and worsening manufacturing sector weakness. Six of 15 of these bellwether markets show a weaker services reading in May. Only [...]
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 03 2016Global Services Show Softness
- Global| Jun 02 2016
Euro Area PPI Is Falling Again But Not Decelerating As ECB Is Willing But Still Waiting
The PPI is still falling The EMU-wide PPI gained in March but is falling again in April. After a 0.1% gain in March, the PPI is lower by 0.4% month-to-month in April. It is still falling year-over-year and by 4.4% (excluding [...]
- Global| Jun 01 2016
Global Manufacturing PMIs Reveal Pronounced Weakness; Is It the Perfect Environment for a Fed Rate Hike or Not?
Lethargy and weakness rule Manufacturing PMI data remain weak on a global scale. Among the reporters in this table with data back to only 2008 at the most, there is NO country whose manufacturing PMI stands higher than Vietnam's 86th [...]
- Global| May 31 2016
Euro Area Money and Credit Growth Slow
Central bank bond purchases and negative interest are still not pumping up money growth in the EMU. The year-over-year growth rates for money and credit have backed off, leaving the stimulus policies without a solid backing from the [...]
- Global| May 27 2016
French Consumer Confidence Last Higher Eight and One Half Years Ago
Although household confidence was last higher eight and one-half year ago, it was exactly this high back in January of this year. Viewed on a much broader horizon, the current confidence readings sit only at the 50.8th percentile of [...]
- Global| May 26 2016
Italian Retail Sales Fall in March Amid Other Signs of Weakness
Weak march; weak trends Recent Italian data have been backtracking...big time. Today's retail sales report shows that nominal sales fell by 0.6% in March with real retail sales down by 0.8%. This is the first drop in real retail sales [...]
- Global| May 25 2016
Germany Snaps Back- Bazinga Europe: You Don't!
Month-to-month the German Ifo gauge of industry has snapped back with its headline metric rising to 8.5 in May from 6.4 in April. The business situation index has advanced to 17.1 from 15.3. Expectations reversed course to rise to 0.2 [...]
- Global| May 24 2016
Germany: ZEW Expectations Step Back
Unexpected step back for ZEW forward-looking metric The German ZEW index in May saw its expectations indicator fall sharply while the current index moved higher. The current reading is quite strong as it is stronger only 18% of the [...]
- Global| May 23 2016
Euro Area PMI Weakens As the Fed Rattles Its Policy Saber
Conditions and patterns vary across EMU-somewhat by size The EMU region seems to be a story of `rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.' Both France and Germany have seen their composite PMI gauges rise in May. They are the two [...]
- Global| May 20 2016
German PPI Drops with Upward Pressure Mounting and a Mixed Future
The German PPI (ex-construction) fell by 0.2% in April, returning to its declining ways after a flat performance in March. PPI declines are still in force even as oil prices are rising strongly. Brent rose by 18% in March and by an [...]
- Global| May 19 2016
U.K. Retail Sales Snap Back
U.K. retail sales snapped back in April, rising by 0.9% after falling by 0.7% in March. However, over three months, sales are still falling at a 2.6% annual rate, a clear deceleration from their steady nominal path of 1.2% or so over [...]
- Global| May 18 2016
Here We Go Again...EMU Inflation Trends Head Lower
EMU headline prices fell by 0.2% year-on-year. Core inflation registered a gain below 1% at 0.8%, and the trends for inflation are largely lower. Has the monetary game changed or is it the same-old same-old game that the ECB has [...]
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