German officials have officially ended their excursion trip with optimism. During their journey through fantasy land, they did take their turns in showing how wrong they can be. From the start of the US slowing, they thought Europe [...]
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| Nov 05 2008Services Sectors Tank in US and in Europe
The chart serves as yet another reminder as to why it has been loopy for observers to have insisted that Europe and the US had become disconnected economically – the so-called de-coupling argument. The MFG sectors across countries are [...]
- Global| Nov 03 2008
MFG is HOW Weak? Worst Since at Least March 2000 Across Much of EMU
The e-Zone economy shrank by 0.2% in 2008-Q2 and further weakness lies ahead according to the EU Commission. The EU Commission issued a statement warning that “In 2009, the EU economy is expected to grind to a standstill.’ The [...]
- Global| Oct 31 2008
German Retail Sales Run Soft
The German consumer has kept a stiff upper lip according to the November reading on the consumer from GfK. Still the consumer has been stiffening more than just his and her lip. The old wallet seems to have become a bit less pliable [...]
- Global| Oct 30 2008
EU Indices Are Scraping Low Levels: It Will Get Worse…
The news this month for the EU/EMU region is bad. The EU reading is in the bottom 10% of its range of value. The EMU reading is a bit better, in the bottom 17% of its range. Both are quite weak. The drop in the index is the largest [...]
- Global| Oct 29 2008
Japan’s Industrial Output Recoups Some of Loss
Japan’s IP fell sharply by 3.5% in August, but it has made a substantial rebound in September. Still the trends for IP all are lower, as the sequential growth rates in the table below show. The rebounds by sector in September are only [...]
- Global| Oct 27 2008
Money Supply Growth Stabilizes
Europes money supply growth and credit growth do not show signs of further slowing in September. Growth is slower that it has been over the past 12months but 3-month growth rates are about the same or a bit higher than 6-month rates [...]
- Global| Oct 24 2008
Europe's PMIs Are Weak- Showing Contraction!
Europe’s PMIs are now weak. They are at or near the lows we have seen since the services PMI was issued in July of 1998. Both service sand MFG PMIs are below their respective neutral readings of 50 and are thus indicating CONTRACTION. [...]
- Global| Oct 23 2008
European Orders Head Sharply Lower In August
Industrial orders in the e-zone fell by a relatively sharp 1.2% in August. Still there has been enough strength recently for the 3-mo growth rate of e-Zone orders to stand at a positive 5.3%. Over six months and 12-months orders are [...]
- Global| Oct 22 2008
Italy’s Consumer Confidence and Retail Sales Trends Continue to Drop
Italy’s consumer sentiment trend and retail sales trends continue to show each other the way lower. While some speak disparagingly about consumer surveys, it is clear that the consumer’s habits are bang in line with what the consumer [...]
- Global| Oct 20 2008
French Orders Continue to Slide Sharply
French order performance and trends are clear and are clearly negative. The momentum is not as clearly building a head of steam as in some countries, however. But, on the other hand, all recent views of order trends are lower at some [...]
- Global| Oct 20 2008
German PPI Pressure Still Lingers
Consumer goods inflation has broken lower in Germany. But for capital goods and intermediate goods, inflation forces are lingering. Headline PPI inflation has spurted by 7.8% over three months, a far cry from the 2% limit on consumer [...]
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