Article 18

Front Page  Analysis Blog   Investing Blog   News Blog    Opinion Blog   Current Markets 
 Economic News: Asia/Pacific  Europe  Middle East/Africa  Americas  USA Government  

According to Congress's Joint Economic Committee, average gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the 19 quarters of our current economic recovery has been 2.2%, with total growth of 11.1%. The average for the seven post-1960 recoveries is 4.1%, with total growth of 21.1%. The 10% spread between the average recovery and the current recovery represents almost $1.6 trillion in unrealized GDP and $300 billion in lost federal tax revenue. Overall job growth has been well below the historical average since the recovery began in June 2009, and the quality of the jobs created has also not been good. 

Anther interesting session behind us. The $VIX dropped to the lowest point since 02-26-2007, the SP500 tipped the high mark at 1949.44 and the DOW melted up to 16924.28. What does this mean, I am not sure, but I am not buying long. In fact I increased my cash position as it is just not worth the agration of 'hoping' I might another 15%.

By 4 pm the bulls party music was loud an raunchy and the overall situation smelled something like, you know, BS.

Econintersect analysis is that total consumer credit growth accelerated 0.5% month-over-month, and the year-over-year growth is 6.6%. The seasonally adjusted consumer credit headlines are showing a growth of 10.25%. Student loans are becoming less-and-less of a factor in consumer credit expansion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against:

Like yesterday the SP500 keeps on setting new highs as the session progresses. The SP500 reached up to 1949.25 and the DOW likewise melted up to 16909.22 and have been at this elevated zone for most of the morning.

By noon the trading was in a narrow band moving sideways on falling volume with the bears taking a nap.

ECRI's WLI Growth Index continued its improvement cycle, remaining in positive territory but declining to a four week low. A positive number predicts economic expansion to come within the next six months. This week ECRI released their Future Inflation Gauge which is discussed below.

Premarkets were up +0.16% at the report of topping of May Payrolls forecast this morning. Markets opened up with the SP500 setting, again, a new high of 1947 and so did the DOW at 16901 low to moderate volume.

By 10 am the averages were still pushing upwards and the apparent direction for the morning session is up as the bull are in party mode.

The 21st century industrial revolution has already begun. All because of an incredible invention that is made in America.

Business Insider calls it "the next trillion dollar industry." The Economist compares its impact to the steam engine and the printing press. And technology experts -- like the guys who brought you the BMW 3-series, the F-35 fighter jet, and Amazon.com -- think it could be "bigger than the internet."

A new investment video reveals the impossible (but real) technology that could make you impossibly rich. Watch it now, before the skeptics on Wall Street wise up and start looking for their piece of the action.

The May 2014 BLS jobs report headlines was fairly strong. The unadjusted data says this report is relatively strong. The data is trending in the right direction.

by James Narron and David Skeie - Liberty Street Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Today, a leisurely trip down a canal on a quiet Sunday afternoon is a reminder of an unhurried time away from the hectic pace of modern commerce. But this was not always so. From the late 1790s into the early 1800s, canal transport was a crucial element of the industrial revolution-a time when barges were loaded with raw materials and goods rather than tourists and holidaymakers. By the mid-1700s, manufacturing was evolving from a cottage industry to a factory system in which goods could be produced en masse. But mass production required heavy raw materials like coal and a way to ship sometimes fragile goods such as pottery to market.

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary "reading list" which will include very brief summaries of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for "reading list" items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

The Federal Reserve meeting begins Tuesday June 17th with the FOMC meeting announcement the following day Wednesday June 18th which will be followed by their forecasts and the Fed Chair press conference.

I have a friend and I will spare him the embarrassment of mentioning his name here, who always seems to buy and sell stocks at the wrong time. He watches a lot of TV and gets excited at the prospects of becoming rich quickly from any publicly traded company that happens to make the news. It struck me after having watched my friend lose plenty of money throughout the years that there are many others who get involved in the markets the same way. They hear a hot tip, listen to a broker who pushes some brokerage inventory or watch the top performer lists on their computers.

The ECB (European Central Bank) has installed a new economic paradigm for the euro area, one that moves away from front-loaded austerity and comes with non-interest rate monetary accommodation. I want to briefly outline here what this means.

Florin Aftalion published an account of the financial and fiscal problems before, during and after the French Revolution in 1987 (1990). Apparently, in the 1780s the French people were fed up with the way that taxes were collected and also with the way that government spent. There was some knowledge about what was later termed the quantity theory of money, thus linking price level and quantity of money (p. 44):

Detroit's bankruptcy filing has highlighted fiscal pressures being experienced by communities across the nation, including Chicago. Problems such as flat or declining property tax revenues, underfunded public pensions, and reduced state support are straining local government operations. To investigate how municipalities are adjusting to fiscal stress, the Civic Federation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago held a forum on April 23, 2014, that brought together over 140 participants.

Under the Affordable Care Act, most legal residents of the United States are required to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. That penalty is the greater of two amounts: a flat dollar penalty for each uninsured adult, which will rise from $95 in 2014 to $695 in 2016 and be indexed to inflation thereafter (the penalty for a child is half the amount, and an overall cap applies to family payments); or a percentage of a household's adjusted gross income in excess of the threshold for mandatory tax-filing, which will rise from 1.0 percent in 2014 to 2.5 percent in 2016 and subsequent years (also subject to a cap). For fiscal years 2015 to 2024, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that such payments will total $46 billion.

Investing.com Technical Analysis (as of Thu, 29 May 2014 05:00pm EDT)

Below, technical overviews and analysis for key stock indices, commodities and currency pairs, based on market activity at the close of the 29 May 2014 U.S. session. This information is a comprehensive summary derived from simple and exponential moving averages along with key technical indicators shown for specific time intervals.

Fed's Balance Sheet was $4.288 trillion - almost unchanged since the record $4.293 on 14 May 2014. The complete balance sheet data and graphical breakdown of the cumulative and weekly changes follows the "read more".

Read more >>

On average, more than 6 million Twitter users viewed at least one tweet related to Breaking Bad whenever a new episode aired in the past 6 months. 

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.