US Housing Market Chart Pack Household formation snaps back The Census Bureau’s estimate of household formation as part of its Homeownership & Vacancy Survey was a very encouraging 1.7m in 2014. Admittedly, that’s significantly above the alternative Current... 10th February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (Jan.) January's stronger than expected 35,400 gain in employment was driven entirely by a surge in part-time jobs. Accordingly, we wouldn't read too much into the small decline in the official jobless rate... 6th February 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update How big a threat is Fed tightening to gold prices? If nothing else changes, earlier hikes in interest rates by the US central bank would be likely to undermine the prices of precious metals, notably gold and silver. The 2% fall in the gold price after... 6th February 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Muted productivity growth holding back real wage gains The weakness of wage growth is partly due to the near-stagnation in productivity. Unfortunately, the news last week that non-farm productivity was unchanged over 2014 as a whole, suggests there is... 6th February 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Jan.) We keep trying to tell everyone that the US economy is enjoying a period of unusual strength, maybe now people will believe us. Non-farm payroll employment increased by 257,000 in January and the... 6th February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Merchandise Trade (Dec.) The trade deficit widened slightly to C$0.6bn in December, from C$0.3bn, but that increase was actually much smaller than expected. An encouraging rebound in export volumes more than offset the... 5th February 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Has “safe-haven” demand driven US Treasury yields down? While demand for US Treasuries as a “safe haven” may have increased over the past year, we doubt this has contributed significantly to the sharp decline in their yields. Other factors that are also... 5th February 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response International Trade (Dec.) The widening in the trade deficit to $46.6bn in December, from $39.8bn, may have wrong-footed the markets (the consensus forecast was $38.0bn). But it was broadly in line with the assumptions that the... 5th February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Lower mortgage rates won't prevent housing correction Lower mortgage rates won't prevent home sales and prices falling sharply in regions directly hit by the slump in oil prices. While they might support housing activity in other key markets, we fear... 4th February 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Dec.) House price pressures came off the boil at the end of 2014, with the year-on-year rate of house price inflation at or around 5% during the final four months of the year. With the supply of homes for... 3rd February 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response ISM Manufacturing Index (Jan.) The decline in the ISM manufacturing index to a one-year low of 53.5 in January, from 55.1, reflects the recent surge in the dollar and the weakness of global demand. 2nd February 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Tax on profits held abroad could be worth 1.5% of GDP The funds raised by President Obama’s proposals to tax foreign earnings could, in theory, provide a 1.5% boost to GDP. Despite tax reform being a shared goal of both parties, however, there is no... 2nd February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Household balance sheet risks unevenly spread The latest Survey of Financial Security reveals that household balance sheet risks have increased and the burden of that risk is concentrated among individuals in the 35 to 44 age bracket. Enamoured... 2nd February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response GDP by Industry (Nov.) November's weaker than expected 0.2% m/m decline in GDP suggests that the economy grew by no more than 2.0% annualised in Q4 last year. That's well below the Bank of Canada's estimate of 2.5%... 30th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Big number of small winners > small number of big losers Last week, mixed news on corporate earnings and an unexpected decline in underlying capital goods orders in December renewed fears that recent market moves are somehow a net negative for the US... 30th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response GDP (Q4 1st Estimate) The 2.6% annualised gain in fourth-quarter GDP was slightly below the 3.0% consensus forecast but, following the breakneck 5.0% gain in the third quarter of last year, this slowdown is nothing to... 30th January 2015 · 1 min read
