The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell 0.7% in November 101.4 index in Nov The pending home sales index measures sales at the time the contract for an existing home is signed, analogous to the [...]
Introducing
Sandy Batten
in:Our Authors
Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
Publications by Sandy Batten
Global| Jan 30 2018TT
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Jan 30 2018
U.S. Pending Home Sales Decline Again, Fell to Lowest since Spring 2014
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell 2.2% m/m (-9.8% y/y) in December. This was the third consecutive monthly decline and the seventh decline in the past nine months. The December reading [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Jan 26 2018
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Soared in December Propelled Again by Aircraft
New orders for durable goods soared 2.9% m/m (11.5% y/y) in December on top of an upwardly revised 1.7% m/m gain in November (initially reported as +1.3%). The Action Economics Forecast Survey had anticipated a 0.9% m/m increase. For [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Jan 12 2018
U.S. Retail Sales Were Solid in December with Upward Revisions to October and November
Total retail sales posted a solid 0.4% m/m (5.4% y/y) increase in December on top of strong upwardly revised rises in October and November. The initially reported 0.5% m/m increase in October was revised up to a 0.7% m/m rise, and the [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Jan 05 2018
U.S. November Trade Deficit Widens Even Though Exports Rebound
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $50.5 billion in November from a slightly upwardly revised $48.9 billion in October. The November deficit was meaningfully larger than the consensus expectation of $49.1 billion [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 21 2017
U.S. FHFA House Price Treads Water in October
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 6.6% y/y in October, up only slightly from a 6.5% y/y increase in September. While this reading is down from the recent peak of 7.1% in April, the annual pace [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 21 2017
U.S. FHFA House Price Treads Water in October
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) index of U.S. house prices rose 6.6% y/y in October, up only slightly from a 6.5% y/y increase in September. While this reading is down from the recent peak of 7.1% in April, the annual pace [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 26.2 in December from 22.7 in November. Expectations had been for a reading of 20.5 in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Dec 08 2017
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Slump; Sales Rise but Slow
Wholesale inventories fell 0.5% m/m (+3.8% y/y) in October following a downwardly revised 0.1% m/m increase in in September (initially +0.3% m/m). The summer rebound in inventories has slowed recently. Seasonally adjusted inventories [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Nov 15 2017
U.S. CPI Well Behaved in October But Increases Are Accelerating
The Consumer Price Index edged up 0.1% m/m (2.0% y/y) in October, exactly in line with the market's expectation from the Action Economics survey. The overall index had jumped a much larger-than-expected 0.5% m/m in September. The core [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Nov 03 2017
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in September; Exports Improve, Imports Rebound
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $43.5 billion in September from a slightly upwardly revised $42.8 billion shortfall in August. A $43.2 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
- Global| Nov 01 2017
FOMC Leaves Rate Unchanged but December Hike Likely
At today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the target for the federal funds rate was left unchanged at 1.00%-1.25%. This was the third consecutive meeting at which the rate target had been held steady with the last rate [...]
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
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