Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index (NFCI)

The St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) is one index that is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  Its reading as of the December 24, 2014 update (reflecting data through December 19) is -.834. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other related …

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House Prices Reference Chart

As a reference for long-term house price index trends, below is a chart, updated with the most current data (through October) from the CalculatedRisk blog post of December 30, 2014 titled “House Prices: Better Seasonal Adjustment; Real Prices and Price-to-Rent Ratio in October” : (click on chart to enlarge image) _____ The Special Note summarizes my overall …

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Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of December 30, 2014

Doug Short had a blog post of December 30, 2014 (“Consumer Confidence ‘Rebounded Modestly’ In December“) 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 above charts that …

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Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index (NFCI)

The St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) is one index that is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  Its reading as of the December 24, 2014 update (reflecting data through December 19) is -.834. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other related …

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Money Supply Charts Through November 2014

For reference purposes, below are two sets of charts depicting growth in the money supply. The first shows the MZM (Money Zero Maturity), defined in FRED as the following: M2 less small-denomination time deposits plus institutional money funds. Money Zero Maturity is calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Here is the “MZM …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through November 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 November, updated on December 23, 2014.  This value is 242,275 ($ Millions) : (click on charts to enlarge …

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The U.S. Economic Situation – December 23, 2014 Update

Perhaps the main reason that I write of our economic situation is that I continue to believe, based upon various analyses, that our economic situation is in many ways misunderstood.  While no one likes to contemplate a future rife with economic adversity, current and future economic problems must be properly recognized and rectified if high-quality, …

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Updates Of Economic Indicators December 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 December 2014 Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) updated as of December 22, 2014: – The ECRI WLI (Weekly Leading Index): As of December 19, 2014 (incorporating data through …

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Broad-Based Indicators Of Economic Activity

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) and the Aruoba-Diebold-Scotti Business Conditions Index (ADS Index) are two broad-based economic indicators that I regularly feature in this site. The short-term and long-term trends of each continue to be notable. Doug Short, in his blog post of December 19, 2014, titled “The Philly Fed ADS Business Conditions …

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