Econ Summary:
The big story this week is the further deterioration of interest rates .
Among long leading indicators, interest rates for treasuries and mortgage rates joined corporate bonds as neutral, while mortgage applications remained positive, although refinancing turned engative and approached their multi-year bottom.. Money supply and real estate loans were positive.
The short leading indicators remain extremely mixed. The recent upward spike in interest rates with widening spreads, a classic short leading indicator for recession, increased slightly this week. Meanwhile initial jobless claims remain very positive. Temporary staffing was slightly negative for the third week in a row. While oil and gas prices have risen, both remain positives, as is gas usage. Industrial metal prices turned more negative.
All but two of the coincident indicators were again negative.
The positives were tax withholding and container shipping. Steel production and rail transport are still very negative, although intermodal traffic remained a positive. The Baltic Dry Index is a slight negative. The disturbing uptrend in the TED spread and LIBOR is intact. Johnson Redbook consumer spending is still in the low end of YoY comparisons, while Gallup's negative reading was the worst this year against extremely challenging comparisons with last May.
The US economy remains in a shallow industrial recession, driven by the overly strong US$, which in turn has been driven by this bout of Eurocrisis, plus the contrast between the Fed's steady drumbeat about raising rates in contrast with ECB easing. This is augmented by relatively poor consumer spending, probably driven by a steep downturn in the Oil patch outweighing improvement elsewhere.
The remainder of the economy, as shown by housing, auto sales, and initial jobless claims, remains positive. Thus I remain positive on the economy for the rest of the year.
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