Economy in Brief

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales in February rose 2.9% m/m to 5.030M from an unrevised January level which fell 0.4%. The rise contrasted with Consensus expectations for a slight decline. There [...]

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales in February rose 2.9% m/m to 5.030M from an unrevised January level which fell 0.4%. The rise contrasted with Consensus expectations for a slight decline. There [...]

The chart on the left shows that consumer confidence has been weaker briefly in 2004 and then again back in 1994. But at the pace that confidence is falling it may be there soon. Italy’s Sentiment indicator is in the bottom 6% of its [...]

French industrial orders are hanging tough in an environment where Euro Area growth is fading and the euro is getting stronger. Total new orders and foreign orders are however losing some momentum after spurting strongly in mid-2007 [...]

You can't say the Fed isn't trying. And if the current credit crisis situation turns into something far worse, it's unlikely that historians a generation from now will be able to blame the Fed's present efforts, as they can with the [...]

You can't say the Fed isn't trying. And if the current credit crisis situation turns into something far worse, it's unlikely that historians a generation from now will be able to blame the Fed's present efforts, as they can with the [...]

Recession and lower oil prices worked to sharply shrink the U.S. current account deficit last year. In fact, the 2008 deficit of $673.3 billion was the smallest since 2004. That improvement came despite recessions abroad which limited [...]

German ex-energy MFG prices are showing pressure with three-month inflation surging and pushing up the pace across the major tenor comparisons. Headline MFG price inflation is in the 5% to 6% range over three and six months. It is [...]