Economy in Brief

The Conference Board's September index of Consumer Confidence fell 17.9% m/m to 86.6 following a 1.8% gain during August that was little revised. Consensus expectations had been for a shallower decline to 94.7. Last week, the [...]

Large Corporations (corporations with capital of 1 billion or more) in Japan have become more optimistic according to the Business Outlook Survey conducted by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Cabinet Office's Economic and Social [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that with a 2.0% m/m rise in August to 7.29 million, total existing home sales recovered nearly all of the prior month's downwardly revised 2.7% decline. Consensus expectations had been [...]

The National Association of Realtors reported that with a 2.0% m/m rise in August to 7.29 million, total existing home sales recovered nearly all of the prior month's downwardly revised 2.7% decline. Consensus expectations had been [...]

A recent focus in commodity markets has been on the damage to petroleum drilling & refining facilities caused by Hurricane Katrina and potentially from Hurricane Rita as well as the resultant price effects. Indeed, versus before [...]

A recent focus in commodity markets has been on the damage to petroleum drilling & refining facilities caused by Hurricane Katrina and potentially from Hurricane Rita as well as the resultant price effects. Indeed, versus before [...]

Japan's trade surplus shrank markedly in August from a year ago, reaching ¥116.3 billion from ¥572.9 billion. Exports grew vigorously, up 9.1%, but imports leaped 21.1%. As might be expected, petroleum accounted for a significant [...]

The August Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators reported by the Conference Board fell 0.2% following a revised 0.1% dip in July. These declines and slight downward revisions to prior months' data lowered six-month growth in [...]