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 December) from the CalculatedRisk blog post of February 28, 2017 titled “Real Prices and Price-to-Rent Ratio in November”: (click on chart to enlarge image) _____ The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation SPX …

Read more

Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of February 28, 2017

Doug Short had a blog post of February 28, 2017 (“Consumer Confidence Up in February“) 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 I find …

Read more

Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through January 2017

Many people place emphasis on Durable Goods New Orders as a prominent economic indicator and/or leading economic indicator. For reference, below are two charts depicting this measure. First, from the St. Louis Fed site (FRED), a chart through January 2017, updated on February 27, 2017. This value is $230,354 ($ Millions): (click on charts to …

Read more

Updates Of Economic Indicators February 2017

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 2017 Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) updated as of February 23, 2017: (current reading of CFNAI is -.05; current reading of CFNAI-MA3 is -.03): – The ECRI WLI …

Read more

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 February 23, 2017 update (reflecting data through February 17, 2017) is -1.274. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other …

Read more

The U.S. Economic Situation – February 23, 2017 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, …

Read more

S&P500 And VIX Chart – Through February 21, 2017

Stocks have continued to perform (very) strongly since the November elections, and various indices have achieved a series of record-high closes since that time. For reference purposes, below is a 1-year chart of the S&P500 and VIX through Tuesday’s (February 21, 2017) close.  The closing price for the S&P500 was 2365.38 and the VIX had …

Read more

Money Supply Charts Through January 2017

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 …

Read more

Walmart’s Q4 2017 Results – Comments

I found various notable items in Walmart’s Q4 2017 management call transcript (pdf) dated February 21, 2017.  (as well, there is Walmart’s press release of the Q4 results and related presentation materials) I view Walmart’s results and comments as particularly noteworthy given their retail prominence and focus on low prices.  I have previously commented on their quarterly management call comments; these previous posts …

Read more