Friday, December 20, 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

US Federal Reserve Taper / US Labor Department November Report

Post-Recession Unemployment has improved 3%, while Employment is down a concerning 3%, a significant factor in the US Fed's decision to only modestly taper its Asset Purchase Program by $10B per month:


Central Bank's Balance Sheets- Aug 2008 thru Aug 2013

Today, the US Federal Reserve decided to very modestly taper the size of its Asset Purchase Program from $85B to $75B per month, starting Jan 2014. On the below chart, the slope of the US Fed Balance Sheet growth line will barely change. Currently, only the Bank of England has added more to its Assets (on a % basis) than the US Fed, since Aug 2008, and the Swiss have only acted defensively in growing its balance sheet to prevent the Franc from appreciation beyond limits targeted to keep Swiss Industry globally competitive-

Friday, December 6, 2013

US Labor Department November Report

Unemployment had strong favorable move of 0.3% to 7.0%. Even better, Labor Participation likewise improved, the first time this year both measures were simultaneously positive.



Thursday, December 5, 2013

BEA December Report: Q3 2013 US GDP Strong 3.6%

Report establishes a three-quarter positive trend, driven by private investment in larger inventory levels: