On the surface, the January retail sales report released on February 13 doesn’t look so bad, in spite of the hysterical headlines about the big…
The seasonally adjusted headline number for initial unemployment claims came in close to consensus expectations at 336,000 for the week ended February 15. Actual filings…
Misleading Employment Data Can Still Sometimes Lead To Correct Conclusion Yes, we know that the nonfarm payrolls headline number for January was wrong, but those…
Nonfarm Payrolls Bogus Data The nonfarm payrolls headline number for January was hogwash, thanks to a defective seasonal adjustment (SA) factor. Here’s how the Wall…
The headline number for seasonally finagled initial unemployment claims for the week ended February 1 were about where Wall Street economists expected. The actual numbers…
The system remains awash in liquidity, but rather than committing it to stocks, those with the cash have continued to either buy Treasuries or park the funds in the Fed’s tri party overnight reverse repo Temporary Open Market Operations. That program is open not just to Primary Dealers, but also to selected banks and money market funds.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) number for December fell by 8.7%, crushing clueless Wall Street economists whose consensus guess…
Initial unemployment claims for the week ended January 25 were worse than Wall Street economists expected based on the seasonally adjusted headline number. The actual…
December Durable Goods Were Weak The headline number for seasonally adjusted, nominal durable goods orders fell 4.3% in December. That was worse than the lowest…
Consumer Confidence Rose, Beating Market Expectations The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence measure beat market expectations today. The headline number of 80.7 beat the consensus guess…
