Economic Data for Week 43-2012 | Global View | Week Rating
| DATE |
DAY |
REPORT/CATEGORY |
HIGHLIGHTS ON WEEK 43-2012 |
Last |
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Mon |
Non Reports for Our Global Vision |
There will be no Economic Reports released on Monday. |
N/A |
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No Reports |
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Tue |
FOMC Meeting #7 Day 1 of 2 |
FOMC�s monetary policy remains unchanged. A staff presentation focused on the potential effects of using specific threshold values of inflation and the unemployment rate to provide forward guidance regarding the timing of the initial increase in the federal funds rate.
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N/A |
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Interest Rates |
The Federal Reserve will continue to keep interest low through to mid-2015. QE-Infinity of buying US$40 billion of mortgage-backed securities and operation twist will be continued as planned. |
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Tue |
ICSC Goldman Index |
A slow period of store sales for the week ending October 20. The ICSC-Goldman reported sales are up 2.9% year over year, compared to 2.7% last week. |
-0.7
W/W
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Sales and Inventories |
Goldman reports that unseasonably warm weather offset the gains from declining gas prices for the week. Redbook continues to trend lower, but analysts seem hopeful for strong Halloween sales. |
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Tue |
Johnson Redbook |
The Redbook is now only up 1.3% Y/Y, down from 1.8% last week. This is the weakest the Y/Y figure has been from the Redbook since July, and prior to that the lowest reading since January of 2010. |
1.3%
Y/Y
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Sales and Inventories |
Redbook's index is trending about 1/2% point below September with the slowest reading in three months. This fact points to trouble for the government's ex-auto ex-gas reading for October. |
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Wed |
MBA purchase Applications |
The MBA said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell by 12% in the week ended October 19. |
-12.0% |
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Real Estate |
Mortgage applications slump as borrowing rates rise: MBA. The purchase index, after four straight gains, fell and fell sharply in the October 19 week with an 8.0% loss.� |
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PMI flash |
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Wed |
New Home Sales |
Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. rose 5.7% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000, the highest pace since April 2010, when the first-time homebuyer tax credit was initially due to expire, the Commerce Department said. |
389K |
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Real Estate |
Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. rose in September to the highest rate in more than two years, according to government data released Wednesday that confirms the improving picture in the housing market. |
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Wed |
FHFA House Price Index |
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported late Tuesday on its House Price Index (HPI) for August , based on the purchase prices of houses financed with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages: 0.7%. |
0.7% |
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Real Estate |
Home prices rose 0.7% in August, following a 0.1% rise in July. Year-on-year, the index is up 4.7%, compared to 3.7% in July. |
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Wed |
EIA Crude Oil Report |
December crude oil prices managed to recoup all of the losses seen after a surprisingly large EIA inventory build of 5.896 million barrels. EIA crude stocks are 37.492 million barrels above year ago levels and 41.477 million barrels above the five year average. |
3.3% |
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Commodity |
Part of the larger than expected build came from a boost in crude oil imports for the week, which stood at 8.823 million barrels per day compared to 8.347 million barrels the previous week. |
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Wed |
FOMC Meeting #7 Day 2 of 2 |
Gold rose early Thursday in response to plans by the Federal Reserve to continue with its accommodative monetary policy, a softer U.S. dollar and a pick-up in physical demand from the key consuming nation of India. |
N/A |
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Interest Rates |
The Federal Open Market Committee, following Wednesday’s pit close for Comex gold, said it would maintain its accommodative monetary policy, leaving the federal funds rate at its historical low and continuing with its bond-buying programs to hold down long-term interest rates. |
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Thu |
Jobless/Initial Claims |
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, giving a clearer sign that the labor market is healing after wild fluctuations in the data at the beginning of October. |
369K |
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Employment |
The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 23,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 369,000. |
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Thu |
Durable Goods Orders |
New orders for capital goods outside of defense and excluding aircraft, a proxy for business spending plans, was unchanged last month at $60.3 billion, Commerce Department data showed. |
9.9% |
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Manufacturing |
New orders for durables rose a higher-than-expected 9.9%, partially reversing a sharp loss in August. Wild fluctuations in aircraft orders have generated much of the volatility. |
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Thu |
Chicago Fed National Activity Index |
The economy improved in September 2012 with the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) to a zero reading. The 3 month moving (3MA) average improving from the 2012 low water mark last month. |
0.00 |
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Growth |
The 3MA has remained in negative territory for the last 7 months � indicating national economic activity was below its historical trend, but above the levels associated with recessions. |
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Tue |
Pending Home Sales |
The NAR said its pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed but not closed, rose 0.3% from August and were up 14.5% from September 2011. |
99.5 |
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Real Estate |
US pending home sales rose slightly in September but maintained a strong pace of year-on-year growth. In August, the index plunged 2.6% when pending home sales hit their fastest pace in more than two years. |
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Thu |
EIA Natural Gas Report |
The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled 3.84 trillion cubic feet, about 251 billion cubic feet higher than the five-year average of 3.59 trillion cubic feet. Working gas in storage totaled 3.69 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago. |
-76 bcf |
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Commodity |
Natural Gas Inventories Rise as Expected, Price Falling |
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Thu |
Fed Balance Sheet |
The Federal Reserve's balance sheet contracted in the latest week as a result of a decline in holdings of Treasuries securities, Fed data released on Thursday showed. |
-8.4B |
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Government |
The Fed's balance sheet - a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system - stood at $2.823 trillion on October 24, down from $2.829 trillion on October 17. |
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Thu |
M2 Money Supply |
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$-1.9B |
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Money Supply |
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Fri |
Fixed Mortgage Rates |
The 30 year fixed rate pricing was advertised as low as 3.250% (APR: 3.347%, Points: 0.000, Fees in APR: $1995, Lender: Greenlight Financial Services,) and 15 year fixed mortgage rates as low as 2.750% |
3.25% |
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Interest Rates |
Fixed mortgage rates were largely unchanged in the past week as they hover slightly above historic lows on average |
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Fri |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) |
The Commerce Department said growth improved from the 1.3% rate in the April-June quarter. Still, growth remains too weak to rapidly boost hiring. And the 1.74% rate for 2012 trails last year's 1.8% growth, a point GOP nominee Mitt Romney will emphasize. |
2.0% |
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Growth |
The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, buoyed by an uptick in consumer spending and a burst of government spending. |
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Fri |
Consumer Sentiment |
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment rose to 82.6 from 78.3 in September. It was at its highest level since September 2007 on a final reading basis. |
82.6 |
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Consumer |
U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in five years in October as Americans were more upbeat about prospects for the economy and their own finances, a survey released on Friday showed. |
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