Chart of the Day: US Federal Spending by President
The information is as stunning as it is counter-intuitive: federal spending has gone up less under President Obama than any president since Eisenhower.
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Measure used for GDP calculations in retail sales fell 0.3% for the second month
The June retail sales report was simply dismal. Not only did sales decline by 0.5% in June rather than rise 0.2% as the consensus expected, but the April data were revised. The measure used for GDP calculations, excludes gasoline, auto…
Shockingly Poor US Employment Data
The US employment report was simply terrible. Adding insult to injury the April was revised lower as well. The dollar initially firmed, but as participants consider the risks of QE3, the upside momentum stalled.
Europe Data and News Stream Poor
It was not the news stream, which was poor to say the least. The flash European PMI and German IFO warns that even the German economy may be fizzling. UK Q1 GDP was revised down. Yet by the news hit the euro selling appears to exhaust…
EU Summit Dinner Menu: Indigestion
The EU informal summit will be held over a dinner and despite the attention it is receiving, it still seems unreasonable to expect anything concrete. Today's informal EU summit is not the real thing. It is out of the late June summit that a…
ELA Does not Stand for Exaggeration, Lies and Assumptions
ELA is the acronym for Emergency Lending Assistance. This is direct lending by the national central bank, with ECB authorization to local banks with more liberal collateral requirements. The national central bank is responsible/liable for…
Spain: Double Barrel Disappointment
The fact that Spanish bank shares have rallied today (3.1% at pixel time) and have easily outperformed the market (IBEX up 0.3%) following Moody's downgrade of 16 Spanish banks should be understood as a bit of a fluke. Some observers will…
Spain: EU estimates for contraction now considerably deeper
This is not a good day for Spain. The day began with the EU Commission revising its estimates for the Spanish economy. The contraction is now expected to be considerably deeper. Spain unveiled its new efforts to address the banking…
Norway dumps Irish and Portuguese bonds, Switzerland increases Sterling reserves
The Swiss National Bank reported its reserve figures yesterday and the increase in its sterling holdings are notable and may help explain the its relative strength, despite data a soft real sector reports, culminating in the news last week…
Latam Nationalizations: Dog Bites Man?
That a couple of Latin American countries have recently announced the expropriation of foreign investors in the energy sector seems hardly like new news. After all, cycles of nationalization and privatization have unfolded for more than…