Some more data released today … A house price index up sharply, another regional manufacturing survey indicating weakness, and the overall economy continue to expand … a familiar story … From the FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.7 Percent in February U.S. house prices rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January...
Read more »

The March ISM Non-manufacturing index was at 54.4%, down from 56.0% in February. The employment index decreased in March to 53.3%, down from 57.2% in February. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 contraction. From the Institute for Supply Management: March 2013 Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in...
Read more »

This is a minor indicator that I follow. From ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Edged Higher In February The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 0.6% in February after increasing 1% in January. (The 1% gain in January was revised down from a 2.4% increase ATA reported on...
Read more »

The Case-Shiller house price indexes for January will be released Tuesday, March 26th. Zillow has started forecasting the Case-Shiller almost a month early – and I like to check the Zillow forecasts since they have been pretty close. Zillow Forecast: January Case-Shiller Composite-20 Will Be Up 8% Year-Over-Year e predict that next month’s Case-Shiller...
Read more »

There are several key economic releases on Friday. First, the Personal Income and Outlays report for January will be released. This will give some idea of how consumer spending is holding up following the payroll tax increase at the beginning of the year. Note that Personal Income will be off sharply in January since...
Read more »

This is a minor indicator that I follow. This index has been very strong following the dip in October due to Hurricane Sandy. From ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Posts Best Ever January The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 2.9% in January after jumping 2.4% in December....
Read more »

From the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB): Small-Business Owner Confidence Barely Budges Small-business owner confidence continues to drag, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index. The Index gained 0.9 points, rising to 88.9, failing to regain the losses caused by last month’s “fiscal cliff” scare. Expectations for...
Read more »

A couple of reports from earlier this morning: • The Chicago Fed released the national activity index (a composite index of other indicators): Economic Activity Increased in November Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to +0.10 in November from –0.64 in October. Two of the four...
Read more »

Note: The Case-Shiller report to be released next Tuesday is for July (really an average of prices in May, June and July). Zillow Forecast: July Case-Shiller Composite-20 Expected to Show 1.6% Increase from One Year Ago On Tuesday, Sept. 25, the Case-Shiller Composite Home Price Indices for July will be released. Zillow predicts that...
Read more »

From ATA: ATA Truck Tonnage was Unchanged in July The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was unchanged in July after increasing 1.1% in June. (June’s gain was slightly smaller than the 1.2% increase ATA reported on July 25.) In July, the SA index stayed at 118.8 (2000=100). Compared...
Read more »