Too much watching, not enough spending? Japan’s economy watchers index has dropped sharply. Its components are all on 5-Year lows and have been that way for two months running. The NTC MFG index is on a five year low. The Teikoku [...]
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| Aug 08 2008Japan’s Economy Watcher’s Index Plunges
- Global| Aug 07 2008
Germany's Weakness in IP Does Not Stand Alone
Weakness in industrial output is now a growing EU-wide phenomenon based on the large countries’ results. Among the early reporting large countries Germany, Italy and the UK show negative growth rates for real output in 2008-Q2. Only [...]
- Global| Aug 07 2008
German IP Falls Sharply in Quarter Despite Rise in June
Larger order drop points to even worse performance in Q3. Trends in German output are losing momentum across all sectors despite a small rebound in the current month. Consumer goods output has been weakening for some time but the [...]
- Global| Aug 06 2008
Japan LEI Falls
Japan’s leading economic index fell in June after having a small uptick in May. Over three-months the index is higher but it is deeply weaker over 24-, 12- and 6-months. The OECD index that is not quite as up-to-date has been pointing [...]
- Global| Aug 06 2008
German MFG Orders Have Turned Horrifically Weak
Historically German foreign orders have been the more volatile of the two series (foreign and domestic orders for MFG goods). The current drop is a steep one indeed. The aggressive growth rates show that growth fore both domestic and [...]
- Global| Aug 05 2008
EMU PPI Surges Again
Central banks are not having good luck with inflation. Of course, critics will say that inflation fighting has little to do with luck and that is true enough. The PPI is not a targeted rate by the ECB so in some sense it can be [...]
- Global| Aug 01 2008
Manufacturing PMIs: Falling in Concert in Europe
The Markit/NTC PMIs show a clear pattern of weakness in the manufacturing sector. Among the major PMI reporters only Germany and Greece still post PMI values above 50, the ostensible neutral mark. If we calculate where the various [...]
- Global| Aug 01 2008
German Retail Sales Wither
Add German retail sales trends to the list of items turning out more negative prospects for the e-Zone. Retail sales ex-autos as well as real retail sales ex autos saw sales drop by 1.4% month-to-month in June of 2008. Over three- [...]
- Global| Jul 31 2008
HICP Continues to Shoot the Moon
The EMU HICP did slow from its m/m pace of last month but the headline is still moving higher. The 12-mo to 6-mo to 3-mo growth rates how that the speed of the rise is accelerating. German price trends are up-to-date and they show the [...]
- Global| Jul 30 2008
Rapid Fall Off in EU Indices - Especially for Services
The picture on top captures the path of the industrial sector and the services sector in EMU. Both have turned sharply lower by mid 2008 after having peaked about one year ago. The overall EMU sentiment index is now in the 36th [...]
- Global| Jul 30 2008
Japan’s Real Retail Sales Fall Sharply
Nominal retail sales fell by 0.2% in June as inflation pushed ahead driving real retail sales to a 0.7% drop. Inflation adjusted sales have been dropping at an increasingly rapid rate. But, Yr/Yr sales growth is still positive. In the [...]
- Global| Jul 29 2008
IFO Detail Shows Spreading Weakness
The IFO is showing more weakness in Germany. Today’s report provides more detail from its earlier release. The current situation index is still strong residing in the 70th percentile since March of 1992. But expectations are down to [...]
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