There were some interesting comments from the Home Depot CEO today (transcript with via Seeking Alpha). Home Dept CEO Francis Blake talked about the favorable weather, but he thought there was more: There are some interesting challenges in setting expectations for 2012. First, the macro data on housing suggest uncertainty. … The Fed has...
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Not a surprise … from the WSJ: IMF Draft Sees Greek Debt Reaching 129% of GDP in 2020 The International Monetary Fund now expects Greece’s debt to reach 129% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2020 … That is even further above the level most economists consider sustainable than previously thought, making it...
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This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources. Here is the unofficial problem bank list for Feb 17, 2012. (table is sortable by assets, state, etc.) Changes and comments from surferdude808: As expected, the OCC released its enforcement action activity through mid-January 2012 this week, which contributed to several...
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The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container). Container traffic gives us an idea about the volume of goods being exported and imported – and possibly some hints about the trade report for January....
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CR Note: There are only a few areas where the MLS breaks down monthly sales by foreclosure, short sales and conventional (non-distressed) sale. I’ve been tracking the Sacramento market to watch for changes in the mix over time. (here was my post this morning: Distressed House Sales using Sacramento Data) Economist Tom Lawler sent...
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Earlier: • Summary for Week ending February 10th The key reports this week are January retail sales on Tuesday, and January housing starts on Thursday. The NAHB builder confidence report for February will be released on Wednesday. For manufacturing, the February NY Fed (Empire state) and Philly Fed surveys, and the January Industrial Production...
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From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: Upper-midscale hotels top weekly gains Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was up 5.5% to 51.7%, its ADR increased 3.1% to US0.45 and RevPAR was up 8.7% to US.98. This is the weak season for hotel occupancy, but this is solid improvement over the same week last year. Note: ADR: Average...
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From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary There were 3.4 million job openings on the last business day of December, up from 3.1 million in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. … Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in...
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By request, here is an update to four key indicators used by the NBER for business cycle dating: GDP, Employment, Industrial production and real personal income less transfer payments. Note: The following graphs are all constructed as a percent of the peak in each indicator. This shows when the indicator has bottomed – and...
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From the BLS: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private sector, with large employment gains in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government employment changed little...
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