Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of February 28, 2014

Doug Short had a blog post of February 28, 2014 (“Michigan Consumer Sentiment:  A Modest Increase Despite Bad Weather“) in which he presents the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence and Thomson/Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index charts.  They are presented below: (click on charts to enlarge images) – – There are a few aspects of the …

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St. Louis Financial Stress Index – February 27, 2014 Update

On March 28, 2011 I wrote a post (“The STLFSI“) about the St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) which is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  For reference purposes, the most recent chart is seen below.  This chart was last updated on February 27, incorporating data from December 31,1993 to February 21, …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through January 2014

Many people place emphasis on Durable Goods New Orders as a prominent economic indicator and/or leading economic indicator. For reference, below are charts depicting this measure. First, from the St. Louis Fed site (FRED), a chart through January, last updated on February 27, 2014.  This value is 224,975 ($ Millions) : (click on charts to …

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Economic Expansion, Recession Or Depression?

On April 29, 2011, I wrote a post titled “Recovery, Recession, Or Depression?” in which I highlighted the issue of whether the U.S. economy was then in an economic recovery, economic recession, or economic depression. Now, almost three years since that post, and nearly five years since the end of June 2009 NBER Business Cycle …

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Current Economic Situation

With regard to our current economic situation, my thoughts can best be described/summarized by the posts found under the 33 “Building Financial Danger” posts. My thoughts concerning our ongoing economic situation – with future implications – can be seen on the page titled “A Special Note On Our Economic Situation,” which has been found near …

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Updates Of Economic Indicators February 2014

Here is an update of various indicators that are supposed to predict and/or depict economic activity. These indicators have been discussed in previous blog posts: The February 2014 Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)(pdf) updated as of February 24, 2014: – The ECRI WLI (Weekly Leading Index): As of February 21, 2014 (incorporating data through February …

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Markets During Periods Of Federal Reserve Intervention – February 20, 2014 Update

In the August 9, 2011 post (“QE3 – Various Thoughts“) I posted a chart that depicted the movements of the S&P500, 10-Year Treasury Yield and the Fed Funds rate spanning the periods of various Federal Reserve interventions since 2007. For reference purposes, here is an updated chart from Doug Short’s blog post of February 21, …

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St. Louis Financial Stress Index – February 20, 2014 Update

On March 28, 2011 I wrote a post (“The STLFSI“) about the St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) which is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  For reference purposes, the most recent chart is seen below.  This chart was last updated on February 20, incorporating data from December 31,1993 to February 14, …

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