Monday, October 29, 2012

It's The Economy Stupid: Up close and Personal

Economic Event

Period

Economic Survey

Actual Reported

Original Prior

Revised Prior

Personal Income

SEP

0.4%

0.4%

0.1%

 

Personal Spending

SEP

0.6%

0.8%

0.5%

 

PCE Deflator MoM

SEP

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

 

PCE Deflator YoY

SEP

1.7%

1.7%

1.5%

 

PCE Core MoM

SEP

0.1%

0.1%

0.1%

 

PCE Core YoY

SEP

1.7%

1.7%

1.6%

 

 

ECONOMICS FOR DUMMIES

 

Personal Income UP, that’s a good thing

Personal Spending UP, that’s a good thing

PCE Deflator UP, that’s a good thing

PCE Core UP, that’s a good thing

 

So the economic news is basically good today.

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

 

Friday, October 26, 2012

NAM Report On Fiscal Shock

Manufacturers: Fiscal Shock Already a Drag on Economic GrowthStudy Pulls Back the Veil on True Impact of Fiscal Cliff

Contact:

Matthew Lavoie ((202 637-3085)

 

10/26/12 -  The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) today released a new report, Fiscal Shock: America’s Economic Crisis, that shows that the United States is already struggling due to Washington’s failure to address the pending fiscal cliff. The report indicates that there will be a 0.6 percent loss in GDP growth by the end of 2012. It is unsurprising that, according to recent surveys, 55 percent of manufacturers and other small business owners wouldn’t start their business in today’s climate.

 

Yet, if the United States falls off the fiscal cliff, the effects will be far worse. The report displays the significant harm massive tax increases and sequestration cuts will have to the United States over the next three years. The results include the following:

 

    • More than 6 million jobs lost

    • Unemployment rate of more than 11 percent

    • A cumulative 12.8 percent drop in GDP

    • 10 percent loss in household income

    • A recession in 2013 and dramatically slowed growth in 2014

 

“The fiscal cliff has forced manufacturers to plan for a future in which business is down and their tax bills are up,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “Manufacturers have had to put off plans to expand and hire new workers to protect themselves against an increasingly negative business climate—resulting in slowing economic growth and job loss in the manufacturing community. If we fall off the fiscal cliff, another recession is almost guaranteed, and we will see 6 million more people out of work. Manufacturers will lose the workers needed to drive American innovation, and the industry may suffer an irreparable setback.”

 

Mary Andringa, NAM Board chair and president and CEO of Vermeer Corporation, remarked, “The very prospect of a fiscal cliff creates tremendous uncertainty for the markets we serve. For Vermeer, this uncertainty delays economic growth and forces us to be more cautious in a number of areas, limiting all but the most critical hiring. If we fall off the fiscal cliff, with 6 million jobs lost and the country slipping back into a recession, it would be extremely difficult for manufacturers to compete in such a negative environment for business.”

 

The report finds that if we fall off the fiscal cliff, it will take most of the decade for economic activity and employment levels to recover from the fiscal shock. Another recession could deal a substantial blow to long-term economic potential, permanently reducing living standards in the United States.

 

Timmons also commented, “The reality of the fiscal cliff is that it is entirely self-inflicted. We have put ourselves in a situation where our economic and national security is threatened by our own hand. Yet, because it is self-inflicted, we have the ability to fix this and put the United States on the right track. This will require a commitment from the President and Congress to address the unsustainable entitlement programs driving our national debt, halt the looming tax increases and sequestration that will push our nation off the fiscal cliff and enact pro-growth tax reform that will enable manufacturers to continue to lead our economy.”

 

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

Ph:  225-342-0013

Fx:  225-342-9721

Email:  jbroussard@treasusry.state.la.us

Street Address:

445 North Blvd, 7th Floor

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 44154 Capitol Station

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4154

Physical Location:

One City Plaza, 7th Floor

Corner of North Blvd & 4th Street

Exit 1B I-110 Convention Street,

Turn Left to get to North Blvd,

Turn Right on North Blvd

 

It's The Economy Stupid: GDP Surprises on the Up Size

Economic Event

Period

Economic Survey

Actual Reported

Original Prior

Revised Prior

GDP QoQ Annualized

3Q A

1.8%

2.0%

1.3%

 

Personal Consuption

3Q A

2.1%

2.0%

1.5%

 

GDP Price Index

3Q A

2.1%

2.8%

1.6%

 

Core PCE QoQ

3Q A

1.3%

1.3%

1.7%

 

 

The economy in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in the third quarter, paced by a pickup in consumer spending, a rebound in government outlays and gains in residential construction.

   

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a 2 percent annual rate after climbing 1.3 percent in the prior quarter, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 86 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.8 percent gain.

 

This is trend growth, just sort of steady as it goes, just kind of treading water. 2% won’t move the peg one way or another. It will keep us out of a recession, but it won’t create a lot of jobs or spur a lot of investment.  It’s better than it was, not as good as it needs to be.

 

 

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

It's The Economy Stupid: Durable Goods, Cap Goods, Jobs

The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index was 0.0, so that’s unched, nada, bumpkus

Durable Goods Orders was up a strong 9.9%

Capital Goods Orders by businesses were 0.0%, so that’s stagnant

Jobless Claims came in as expected at 369K for Initial Claims and 3254K for Continuing Claims

 

Economic Event

Period

Economic Survey

Actual Reported

Original Prior

Revised Prior

Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index

SEP

-0.2

0.0

-0.87

-1.17

Durable Goods Orders

SEP

7.5%

9.9%

-13.2%

-13.1%

Durables Ex Transportation

SEP

0.9%

2.0%

-1.6%

-2.1%

Cap Goods Orders Non Def Ex Air

SEP

0.8%

0.0%

1.1%

0.2%

Cap Goods Ship Non Def Ex Air

SEP

0.8%

-0.3%

-0.9%

-1.2%

Initial Jobless Claims

OCT 20

370K

369K

388K

392K

Continuing Jobless Claims

OCT 13

3260K

3254K

3252K

3256K

 

Durable Goods- Demand for all durable goods climbed 9.9 percent last month, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and reflecting a rebound in airplane orders. The median forecast of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 7.5 percent gain in total durable goods orders. The August reading was revised to a 13.1 percent drop, the biggest since 2009, from a previously reported 13.2 percent decrease.  Aircraft bookings, which are often volatile, surged 2,641 percent after plunging 97 percent in August, today’s report showed. Boeing Co., the Chicago-based aerospace company, said it received 143 orders in September, up from 1 the prior month and 260 in July.  A less volatile measure of bookings that excludes transportation equipment advanced 2 percent in September, the first gain in four months.

 

Capital Goods - The report today showed demand for capital equipment such as computers and communications gear stagnated last month, a sign that a slowdown in business investment and exports is hurting the world’s largest economy. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft were little changed in September after rising a smaller-than-previously estimated 0.2 percent the prior month.  The stall in orders for U.S. business equipment in September capped a quarterly slump that signals investment will cool in the second  half of the year.  Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft dropped at a 23.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter after falling at a 5.9 percent pace in the three months ended June.  Companies from Caterpillar Inc. to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. have tempered sales projections, raising the risk that cuts in business spending ahead of looming tax and government spending changes will hold back the economy. 

 

Jobless Claims - Fewer Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment benefits last week as the seasonal volatility at the start of the quarter wound down, another report showed.  Jobless claims decreased by 23,000 to 369,000 in the week ended Oct. 20 from a revised 392,000 the prior period, the Labor

Department reported today. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a drop in claims to 370,000.  Averaged over several weeks, the pace of firings has been little changed, indicating payroll gains are being restrained by a lack of hiring. The data signals employers are seeing enough

demand to maintain existing staffing levels even amid growing concern about a slowing global economy and the looming fiscal cliff of tax increases and government spending cuts that will take effect in 2013.

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Bridgewater on the state of U.S. credit creation

Bridgewater on the state of U.S. credit creation:

--------------------

Bridgewater Daily Observation

 

Several years removed from the depths of the financial crisis, the US credit system has now healed to the point where nearly all of the credit pipes are back to operating, albeit at a slower rate of credit creation, and most spreads have returned to pre-crisis levels.  Banks, the largest source of credit to the economy, are fully recovered; their capital levels have returned to pre-crisis levels and strong deposit growth has made funding inexpensive and more reliable.  Consistent with their health, bank lending surveys show an increasing desire to lend.  In fact, the ongoing printing of money and bond purchases by the Fed and other central banks has created a flow of liquidity and a search for yield that is showing up in the gradual reopening of a number of credit pipes that have been closed for a few years.  In the capital markets, corporate issuance is at historically high levels and even higher beta markets like CLOs and CMBS are returning.  While all of this bodes well for qualified borrowers, many households remain underwater or are unemployed, limiting their ability to borrow.  This large number of impaired borrowers continues to limit the rate of aggregate credit growth so that a return to pre-crisis borrowing levels is unlikely.

--------------------

 

So the recovery is on a pace, it just may not be a very brisk pace. 

 

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury

 

Friday, October 19, 2012

It's The Economy Stupid: Fundamentals Matter

October 19th, 1987. 25 years ago today I survived the Black Monday stock market crash. The first of the 3 major stock market crashes that I have experienced while working in the investment business. It can be a little stressful at times...

 

It’s appears that corporate earnings fundamentals are not growing like investors had hoped.  And the market sell off appears to augment that view.  The thing is, analysts have been scaling back their earnings estimates for months and companies have been guiding lower for months. So this really isn’t a surprise.  Time to take off the rose colored glasses…

 

Description

Ticker

Last

CHANGE

% Chg Today

Pct Chg 1Yr

 

 

 

 

 

 

STOCK MARKETS

 

 

 

 

 

Dow Jones Industrial Average

INDU Index

13343.510

-205.4300

-1.5162

16.0110

S&P 500 Index

SPX Index

1433.170

-24.1700

-1.6585

18.2943

NASDAQ Composite Index

CCMP Index

3005.623

-67.2440

-2.1883

15.4684

Russell 3000 Index

RAY Index

844.650

-14.0900

-1.6408

18.4889

Russell 2000 Index (Small)

RTY Index

821.000

-16.1200

-1.9257

18.2352

S&P 400 Mid Cap Index

MID Index

987.280

-13.9600

-1.3943

17.4968

S&P 600 Small Cap Index

SML Index

466.570

-2.3100

-0.4900

21.9950

TREASURIES

% Yield

 

 

 

 

3 Month Treasury

0.0963

 

-0.0050

-5.2632

 

6 Month Treasury

0.1420

 

-0.0100

-6.8966

 

2 Year Treasury

0.2945

99.914

0.0078

0.0078

 

5 Year Treasury

0.7541

99.398

0.1797

0.1811

 

10 Year Treasury

1.7712

98.742

0.6172

0.6290

 

30 Year Treasury

2.9404

96.328

1.5938

1.6823

 

ENERGY

 

 

 

 

 

Crude Oil, Brent Index

Brent Crude

110.080

-2.3400

-2.0815

7.5322

Crude Oil, Louisiana Lt. Sweet

LA Lt Sweet

110.210

-1.6900

-1.5103

-1.5200

Natural Gas, Henry Hub Index

Nat Gas

3.586

-0.0010

-0.0279

-15.5378

PRECIOUS METALS

 

 

 

 

 

Spot Gold $/oz

GOLD

1731.640

-9.6600

-0.5548

5.5328

Spot Silver $/oz

SILVER

32.083

-0.7138

-2.1765

2.7036

CURRENCIES

 

 

 

 

 

Euro

EUR Curncy

1.302

-0.0043

-0.3291

-5.3775

Japanese Yen

JPY Curncy

79.290

0.0100

0.0126

-3.1640

British Pound

GBP Curncy

1.600

-0.0042

-0.2618

1.4835

Swiss Franc

CHF Curncy

0.928

0.0034

0.3676

-2.7676

Canadian Dollar

CAD Curncy

0.993

0.0079

0.8018

2.7280

Chinese Yuan

CNY Curncy

6.254

0.0035

0.0560

1.9924

FOREIGN INDICIES

 

 

 

 

 

FTSE 100 INDEX

UK

5896.150

-20.9000

-0.3532

8.1765

CAC 40 INDEX

FRANCE

3504.560

-30.6200

-0.8662

10.9972

DAX INDEX

GERMANY

7380.640

-56.5900

-0.7609

24.8094

NIKKEI 225 INDEX

JAPAN

9002.680

19.8200

0.2206

3.7308

HANG SENG INDEX

HONG KONG

21551.760

33.0500

0.1536

19.5612

 

 

 

John Broussard

Assistant State Treasurer

Chief Investment Officer

State of Louisiana

Department of the Treasury