Median Household Income Chart

I have written many blog posts concerning the worrisome trends in income and earnings. Doug Short, in his March 30, 2017 post titled “February Real Median Household Income:  Higher in February” produced the chart below.  It is based upon data from Sentier Research, and it shows both nominal and real median household incomes since 2000, as …

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Corporate Profits As A Percentage Of GDP

In the last post (“4th Quarter 2016 Corporate Profits“) I displayed, for reference purposes, a long-term chart depicting Corporate Profits After Tax. There are many ways to view this measure, both on an absolute as well as relative basis. One relative measure is viewing Corporate Profits as a Percentage of GDP.  I feel that this …

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4th Quarter 2016 Corporate Profits

Today’s (March 30, 2017) GDP release (Q4, 3rd Estimate)(pdf) was accompanied by the BLS Corporate Profits report for the 4th Quarter. Of course, there are many ways to adjust and depict overall Corporate Profits.  For reference purposes, here is a chart from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) showing the Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA …

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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 March 23, 2017 update (reflecting data through March 17, 2017) is -1.329. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other …

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Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of March 28, 2017

Doug Short had a blog post of March 28, 2017 (“March Consumer Confidence Highest Since 2000“) 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 …

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Markets During Periods Of Federal Reserve Intervention – March 27, 2017 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 (through March 27, 2017) from Doug Short’s blog …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through February 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 February 2017, updated on March 24, 2017. This value is $235,386 ($ Millions): (click on charts to …

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Deloitte “CFO Signals” Report Q1 2017 – Notable Aspects

Recently Deloitte released their “CFO Signals” “High-Level Summary” report for the 1st Quarter of 2017. As seen in page 2 of the report, there were 132 survey respondents.  As stated:  “Each quarter (since 2Q10), CFO Signals has tracked the thinking and actions of CFOs representing many of North America’s largest and most influential companies. All …

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‘Hidden’ Weakness In Consumer Spending?

Throughout this site there are many charts of economic indicators.  At this time, the readings of various indicators regarding consumer spending are especially notable.  While many are still indicating significant growth, are these indicators accurately portraying the overall situation? Below are a small sampling of consumer spending charts that depict significant or at least stable …

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