‘I’m stunned’ by all the recession talk — Mohamed El-Erian warns against self-fulfilling prophecies
Economist Mohamed El-Erian is warning Wall Street that being overly concerned about an economic recession could actually cause one. “I’m stunned by all this talk of recession,” El-Erian said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. “For us to get into...
US: Good Times for Consumers, Spending Solid and Inflation Contained
Personal income rose 0.2% in November (month-on-month), slightly below expectations for 0.3%. But, personal spending more than made up for the disappointment, rising 0.4% on top of an upward revision to October (+0.8%, prev. 0.6%). Inflation readings were soft. Overall...
Canadian Firms Remain Cautiously Optimistic
Canadian businesses’ spending intentions remained solid at the close of the year, as captured by the Bank of Canada’s quarterly Business Outlook Survey (BOS). The ‘BOS Indicator’ summary measure fell slightly, to 2.2 (from 2.8), but is still elevated by...
Canadian October Retail Sales Inch Higher
Highlights: Retail sales increased 0.3% in nominal terms in October, but in part boosted by the incorporation of Cannabis sales post October 17th legalization. Overall sale volumes were flat in the month. E-commerce sales (which likely contain significant Cannabis sales...
Canadian October GDP Rebounds
Highlights: Canadian October GDP rose a stronger-than-expected 0.3% which more than reversed the disappointing 0.1% decline in September. The increase was helped by solid gains in manufacturing (0.7%), wholesale trade (1.0%) and oil and gas extraction (3.6%). The Canada Post...
Week Ahead – Markets to Enter Christmas Lull; Risk of Volatility in Thin Trade
As the holiday period begins, markets will go into quiet mode for the next two weeks with little on the economic agenda to keep traders at their desks. However, with the market sentiment being stuck in risk-off mood, there is...
FOMC and President Trump Exacerbate Volatility
The past week has again seen policy makers return to centre stage as 2018’s schedule of central bank meetings concluded, and the Australian government released its mid-year update. Beginning with the domestic scene, the mid-year Federal budget update highlighted the...
NY Fed President John Williams says the Fed could re-evaluate view in 2019
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams told CNBC on Friday the Fed is open to reconsidering its views on rate hikes next year. “We are listening, there are risks to that outlook that maybe the economy will...
Risk Aversion Eased ahead of Holiday, But Yen Remains Strongest
Yen remains the strongest one for today even though risk aversion eased a bit ahead of long holiday weekend. Dollar is following as the second strongest, reversing a lot of post FOMC losses against Euro and Swiss Franc. Commodity currencies...
US durable goods orders rose 0.8% in November, led by defense spending
Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting goods rose at a modest pace last month, but the gain was driven entirely by demand for military aircraft. Excluding transportation equipment, orders fell. The Commerce Department said Friday that durable goods orders rose...