retail

The weak November HSBC PMI for China has added to market bearishness. This is not the official PMI but we do note that while the HSBC measure has been below 50 for 4 of the 5 past months, the official PMI has yet to fall below 50, but it…

Fedex is a bellwether stock in the US because it handles so much cargo that it can be seen as a proxy for business activity. The company announced today that it expects record holiday shipping, albeit in its least-profitable residential…

We forgot to post this yesterday. The macro issues raised by GM in their September sales conference call. All are direct quotes from GM management.

The latest round of EU GDP data, brought to light a reality which many who have been closely following the economies of Eastern Europe already suspected: that the heavily export dependent economies in the region would almost inevitably be…

Editor’s note: The US government reported that the unemployment rate fell to 9.1%, with non-farm payrolls at +117,000. That exceeds forecasts. However, the labor participation rate was down to 63.9, the lowest since 1983. People are still…

Legislation to modify debit-card interchange fees cannot compete with celebrity gossip. It is not surprising that lobbying efforts have changed the minds of 19 senators who formerly aligned themselves with consumers and small banks (to…

Although the overall reported headline rate for the GDP remained essentially unchanged, the numbers reflected somewhat weaker consumer contributions and anemic "real final sales".

The persistence of the decline in discretionary spending online for consumer durable goods suggests that consumers have come to terms with the need for a longer term frugality -- perhaps not wishing to repeat the premature "green shoots"…

With the arrival of the first real Japanese data since the Tsunami struck the immensity of the tragedy which Japan is passing through is only now gradually becoming apparent. Exports were down by a seasonally adjusted 7.7% in March over…

The Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) first ("Advance") estimate of the annualized growth rate of the first quarter 2011 U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 1.75%, down significantly from the 3.11% growth rate reported for the fourth…