Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Existing home sales and prices, increase slightly; inventory declines slightly

Existing home sales and prices, increase slightly; inventory declines slightly [Programming note: There will be at least 4 significant reports tomorrow (Nov: 23): jobless claims, personal income and spending, new home sales, and corporate profits for Q3. Then nothing for the rest of the week. I may or may not report on everything tomorrow. I […]

Retail Sales Up 1.7% in October, August and September Revised Higher

MarketWatch 666 Blogger RJS on the macroeconomic implications of retail sales, estimates the impact of retail sales on GDP. Retail Sales Rose 1.7% in October after August & September Sales Were Revised Higher Seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 1.7% in October after retail sales for August and September were revised higher…the Advance Retail Sales Report for […]

Global Oil shortage at 1,930,000 barrels per day in October

Blogger RJS, MarketWatch 666 and Focus on Fracking, Global Oil Shortage at 1,930,000 barrels per day in October as OPEC’s output falls 588,000 barrels per day short of quota OPEC’s October Oil Market Report Thursday of this week saw the release of OPEC’s November Oil Market Report, which includes OPEC & global oil data for October, and […]

EIA Oil, Gasoline, Distillate Inventories at New Lows

Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA. Blogger RJS, Market Watch and Focus on Fracking Gasoline supplies at a 48 month low, distillate supplies at a 19 month low; total inventories of oil and all its products at a 79 month low US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the […]

 . . And Industrial Production isn’t too shabby, either

 . . And Industrial Production isn’t too shabby, either Industrial production, the King of Coincident Indicators, was reported for October this morning in addition to real retail sales, discussed already in my last post. – and it was also quite positive. Total production increased 1.6% during the month, and manufacturing production increased 1.3%. This was […]

Leading Up to the Build Back Better Act Vote

“Letters From An American,” November 18, 2021; Professor Heather Cox – Richardson Today began with Republican leadership doubling down on its support for Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ), whom the House censured yesterday for tweeting a cartoon video of himself killing a Democratic colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and attacking the president, Joe Biden. Only two Republicans […]

Housing construction continues to stabilize, but with record bottleneck in starts

Housing construction continues to stabilize, but with record bottleneck in starts Last month I highlighted that housing constructions were stabilizing, following the stabilization in interest rates. This month continued that trend.  In October, housing starts (green in the graphs below) decreased -0.7% m/m, while the more leading total permits (blue) increased 4.0%. The less volatile […]

Dems Continue To Sink Despite Improving Economy

Dems Continue To Sink Despite Improving Economy  On the first page of today’s Washington Post was reported a poll showing that when a random sample was asked, 46% said they would vote for a generic Republican candidate for Congress versus 43% for a generic Democratic candidate. Given reported further pro-GOP gerrymandering, if this were to […]

Now *that’s* good news: another blockbuster real retail sales report

Now *that’s* good news: another blockbuster real retail sales report Yesterday I wrote that the financial and production sides of the economy still looked very positive and that today’s retail sales number would be especially important. Well, they were very positive, clocking in at up 1.7% month over month in October. Even after inflation, “real” […]