Commodities Update Strong dollar to put further pressure on price of soybeans The large fall in weekly soybean export sales suggests that the strong dollar is starting to reduce the competitiveness of US exporters. And with a large Brazilian harvest underway, we think the price... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Industrial Production (Feb.) February’s industrial production figures continue the recent run of weak news on the US economy and may make some Fed officials more inclined to keep interest rates on hold for longer. Nonetheless, we... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Canadian dollar will remain down for a long time The slump in crude oil prices has changed the Bank of Canada's game plan and, we fear, could prove to be the trigger that bursts the housing bubble, derailing the economy in the process. Under these... 16th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (Feb.) February's modest decline in employment and rise in the unemployment rate, to 6.8% from 6.6%, reflects the early negative effects of a downturn in the mining sector. Accordingly, this supports our... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Corporate sector boosts its borrowing The $79bn increase in household debt in the fourth quarter was dwarfed by the $211bn increase in non-financial corporate debt. The latter was the biggest increase since 2007. 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Retail Sales (Feb.) For the second year in a row, the unseasonably severe winter weather appears to have hit retail sales, which contracted by 0.6% m/m in February. As a result, we now anticipate that first-quarter GDP... 13th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (Feb.) The Teranet-National Bank index shows that house price inflation slowed to 4.4% in February, from 4.7% in January, partly due to the abrupt slowdown in housing activity in regions hit by the slump in... 12th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Is household formation set for a rebound? A fall in the share of young adults living with their parents should provide a boost to household formation over the next few years. This is an upside risk to our forecasts for sales and housing... 12th March 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report The latest data from the EIA suggest that the surge in gasoline stocks may have run its course as demand picks up, but stocks of crude oil are likely to continue to rise. 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Fed close to embarking on return to normality With the labour market still evidently on fire in February, we expect the FOMC statement next Wednesday to omit the language that the Fed can be "patient" in beginning to normalise monetary policy... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Real rates to stay higher in the euro-zone than in US & Japan The ECB started its quantitative easing programme this week and the US Fed is likely to begin tightening policy in June. Nonetheless, we expect real interest rates to remain higher in the euro-zone... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack A temporary surge in house price growth The CoreLogic measure of house prices surged by a seasonally-adjusted 1.4% m/m in January, the largest monthly gain in almost two years. This acceleration appears to have been caused by the tightness... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Additional interest rate cuts still in the pipeline The Bank of Canada's decision to hold rates unchanged at 0.75% last week will have convinced some that there isn't another rate cut in the pipeline. Nevertheless, we still think we could see another... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Payrolls data are not all bad news Most commodity prices fell this week even before the strong US payrolls data raised expectations of early Fed tightening and further dollar strength. While recognising that both developments have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Why haven’t households spent their gasoline windfall? With the overall economy in good shape, it is only a matter of time before households start to spend more of the cash freed up by the plunge in gasoline prices. Indeed, in recent years households have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Trade & Building Permits (Jan.) The jump in Canada's trade deficit to a two-and-a-half year high of $2.5bn in January, from $1.2bn, was principally due to a price-related 23% m/m drop in the value of crude oil exports. 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
