Updates On Economic Indicators February 2011

Here is an update on various indicators that are supposed to predict and/or depict economic activity.  (Past updates of these indicators, as well as previous posts discussing the individual indicators, can be found under “Economic Indicators“) : The February Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)(pdf) updated as of February 24, 2011: – The Consumer Metrics …

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Walmart’s Q42011 Results – Comments

I found various notable items in Walmart’s Q4 conference call transcript (pdf) dated February 22, 2011.  I view Walmart’s results as particularly noteworthy given their retail prominence and focus on low prices.  I have previously commented upon their quarterly results. Here are the excerpts, all found on pages 34-35, that I find most notable: “The …

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The Changing Dynamics Underlying Profit Margins

In past posts I have written of the challenges businesses face in pricing, given today’s economic environment.  One aspect that I mentioned in the December 16 post was how PPI (Producer Price Index) growth was significantly outpacing that of CPI. Since that December 16 post, the PPI-CPI growth rate issue has been exacerbated.  Doug Short, …

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Bill Gates On Health Care, Technology

The February 7 – February 13 2011 Bloomberg BusinessWeek had an interview of Bill Gates by Charlie Rose (“Charlie Rose talks to Bill Gates“). There are two excerpts, seen below, that I found especially interesting, although I don’t necessarily agree with what Gates says. Rose’s questions are in bold.  For now I will simply post …

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Why Did Economists Not Foresee The Financial Crisis?

One of the critical issues that has arisen from the Financial Crisis and its aftermath was why didn’t economists foresee the Crisis? While I believe there are many reasons for this, some complex, it is interesting to read of reasons issued by one of today’s foremost economists, Raghuram Rajan, in his February 5 2011 blog …

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Federal Reserve Economic Projections To 2013 And Beyond – As Of January 2011

The following is from the Minutes of The Federal Open Market Committee of January 25-26, 2011, the Summary of Economic Projections.  As stated: “In conjunction with the January 25–26, 2011, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the members of the Board of Governors and the presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks, all of whom participate …

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The February 2011 Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey

The February Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey was published February 14, 2011.  The headline is “Consumer and Business Spending to Spur Expanding U.S. Economy.” I found this excerpt from the article to be notable: “Since late last summer, the economy appears to have strengthened considerably. The economists put the risk of a return to …

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