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 22, 2018 update (reflecting data through February 16, 2018) is -1.146. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other …

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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 December) from the CalculatedRisk blog post of February 27, 2018 titled “Case-Shiller:  National House Price Index increased 6.3% year-over-year in December”: (click on chart to enlarge image) _________ I post various indicators and indices because …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through January 2018

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 2018, updated on February 27, 2018. This value is $239,724 ($ Millions): (click on charts to …

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Updates Of Economic Indicators February 2018

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 2018 Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) updated as of February 26, 2018: The CFNAI, with current reading of .12: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago Fed National Activity …

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The U.S. Economic Situation – February 23, 2018 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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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 22, 2018 update (reflecting data through February 16, 2018) is -1.146. Of course, there are a variety of other measures and indices that are supposed to measure financial stress and other …

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Money Supply Charts Through January 2018

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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Zillow Q1 2018 Home Price Expectations Survey – Summary & Comments

On February 20, 2018, the Zillow Q1 2018 Home Price Expectations Survey results were released.  This survey is done on a quarterly basis. An excerpt from the press release: The quarterly survey, sponsored by Zillow and conducted by Pulsenomics LLC, asked more than 100 housing experts and economists about their expectations for home price growth, and whether …

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Trends Of S&P500 Earnings Forecasts

S&P500 earnings trends and estimates are a notably important topic, for a variety of reasons, at this point in time. FactSet publishes a report titled “Earnings Insight” that contains a variety of information including the trends and expectations of S&P500 earnings. For reference purposes, here are two charts as seen in the “Earnings Insight” (pdf) report of …

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S&P500 “Bottom Up” EPS Forecasts Years 2017, 2018 And 2019

As many are aware, Thomson Reuters publishes earnings estimates for the S&P500.  (My other posts concerning S&P earnings estimates can be found under the S&P500 Earnings tag) The following estimates are from Exhibit 23 of the “S&P500 Earnings Scorecard” (pdf) of February 20, 2018, and represent an aggregation of individual S&P500 component “bottom up” analyst forecasts.  For reference, …

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