All Blog Posts (1,487)

JDfn Daily Digest - September 16, 2008

The Federal Open Market Committee held its benchmark Fed funds rate at 2.0 percent. Analysts were divided about what the Fed would do after a stunning shakeup over the weekend with Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch moved to sell itself to Bank of America. Some said a rate cut was absolutely necessary, while others argued just as strongly that the Fed should hold steady. The vote was unanimous.

The Federal Reserve pumped another $70 billion into the nation's… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 16, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

Aug CPI 2008

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: AUGUST 2008

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased

0.4 percent in August, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor

Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The August

level of 219.086 (1982-84=100) was 5.4 percent higher than in August 2007.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers

(CPI-W) decreased 0.5 percent in August, prior to seasonal… Continue

Added by Adam Horak on September 16, 2008 at 9:14am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 15, 2008

Lehman Brothers (LEH), burdened by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue the 158-year-old firm failed. Meanwhile, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) said it is snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER) in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.

The Federal Reserve, acting as Lehman Brothers was heading toward a bankruptcy filing, expanded its loan programs and said it would accept a broader… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 15, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 12, 2008

The Labor Department reported that U.S. producer prices fell a steeper than expected 0.9% in August, helped by lower energy costs. The decline follows on the heels of a sharp 1.2% gain in July. Excluding food and energy, "core" producer prices rose 0.2% last month. Analysts were predicting a decrease of 0.4% in overall PPI and a 0.2% increase in the core rate. Producer prices are up 9.6% over the past 12 months.

Total sales at U.S. retailers in August fell for a second month in a row… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 12, 2008 at 10:47am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 11, 2008

The Labor Department reported that applications for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 445,000, down by 6,000 from the prior week. That is above analysts' expectations of 440,000. The four-week moving average, which smoothes out week-to-week fluctuations, rose slightly to 440,000.

The Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit rose by 5.7 percent to $62.2 billion in July, much worse than the $58 billion deficit that Wall Street expected. It pushed the gap… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 11, 2008 at 10:10am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 10, 2008

The Mortgage Bankers Association said the lowest 30-year mortgage rates since late May boosted demand for mortgage applications last week, particularly by homeowners looking to refinance existing loans. Average 30-year loan rates sank 0.33 percentage point to 6.06 percent, spurring a more than 15 percent jump in refinance applications.

Oil prices edged just slightly higher after OPEC vowed to abide by its quotas but decided not to take the more dramatic step of slashing production… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 10, 2008 at 11:00am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 9, 2008

The Commerce Department reported that inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose 1.4 percent in July, twice what analysts had forecast, while sales were down 0.3 percent. Analysts expected inventories to rise 0.7 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent gain in June, previously reported as 1.1 percent.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that with the economy weakening and spending on the war rising, the federal government's budget deficit is expected to more than double this year… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 9, 2008 at 10:16am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 5, 2008

The Labor Department said 84,000 jobs were lost in August, significantly higher than the 75,000 that economists forecast. In addition, July's job losses were revised up to 60,000 and June's to 100,000 from a previously reported 51,000 in each month. The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.1 percent in August, its highest in nearly five years and the average hours of work remained unchanged from July at 33.7.

A Mortgage Bankers Association survey said foreclosures… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 5, 2008 at 11:05am — No Comments

trading on the momentum not the moment of the news

Added by Adam Horak on September 5, 2008 at 9:03am — 1 Comment

August non farm payroll 2008

The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 percent in August, and non-

farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000), the Bureau of

Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In August,

employment fell in manufacturing and employment services, while mining and

health care continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents,

or 0.4 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number… Continue

Added by Adam Horak on September 5, 2008 at 8:49am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 4, 2008

The productivity of U.S. non-farm businesses was revised higher in the second quarter than previously estimated. Productivity rose at a 4.3% annual rate in the quarter, revised from 2.2% in the earlier estimate a month ago. Unit labor costs -- a key inflation gauge - fell 0.5%, revised down from a gain of 1.3%, the biggest decrease since the third quarter of 2007.

The government announced that first-time jobless claims increased by the largest amount in five weeks, another sign that… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 4, 2008 at 10:50am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 3, 2008

National chain store sales fell 1.6% in the first four weeks of August versus the previous month. Sales in the week ended Aug. 30th were up 2.3% from the same week in 2007. Last minute back-to-school shopping and bargain hunting boosted sales for the week.

Businesses stepped up their demand for capital equipment in July. Core capital equipment orders rose 2.5. Overall new orders rose 1.3% in July, compared with 1% expected by economists. Orders for durable goods rose 1.3% in July,… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 3, 2008 at 10:12am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - September 2, 2008

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the nation's manufacturers cut back production slightly in August. The ISM index inched lower to 49.9% in August from 50% in July. The drop was unexpected. The consensus forecast of estimates was for the index to hold steady at 50%.

US construction spending fell more than expected in July, as housing construction fell to its lowest level in more than seven years. Total US construction spending fell 0.6% in July, more than the 0.3%… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on September 2, 2008 at 10:51am — No Comments

JDfn Daily Digest - August 29, 2008

Real consumer spending fell 0.4% in July. This is the biggest drop since June 2004. Nominal spending rose 0.2%. Personal income fell 0.7% in July, the biggest drop since August 2005. Real disposable incomes fell 1.7% in July. This is the second straight large monthly drop in the wake of the government stimulus payments. As anticipated U.S. July PCE core inflation was up 0.3%.

Consumer sentiment improved in August. The index rose to 63 in late August, compared with 61.7 earlier in the… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on August 29, 2008 at 10:15am — No Comments

break out and continuation

Added by Adam Horak on August 28, 2008 at 1:04pm — 1 Comment

JDfn Daily Digest - August 28, 2008

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government's initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.

The Labor Department reported that applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 425,000, down 10,000 from the previous week. That was a slightly better figure than the 427,000 analysts… Continue

Added by Jack Lott on August 28, 2008 at 10:36am — No Comments

range trading

Added by Adam Horak on August 28, 2008 at 9:26am — 1 Comment

GDP Q2 2008 Preliminary

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND CORPORATE PROFITS: Second Quarter 2008 (Preliminary)

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property

located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2008,

(that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to preliminary estimates released by the

Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.9… Continue

Added by Adam Horak on August 28, 2008 at 9:01am — No Comments

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Aug. 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 425,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the…

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Aug. 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 425,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 435,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 446,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending Aug. 16, an… Continue

Added by Adam Horak on August 28, 2008 at 8:41am — No Comments

two schools of thought.

Debt auction:

The Treasury Dept. is set to auction off $32 billion worth of 2-year bond notes Wednesday, the largest auction of 2-year notes in history. A big shot of supply typically sends bond prices lower.

The auction for the 2-year note closes at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday.

Oil prices:

Oil prices look to push higher as traders worried whether Tropical Storm Gustav might cut crude supplies that come out of the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Bond traders always watch oil prices… Continue

Added by Adam Horak on August 27, 2008 at 12:09pm — No Comments