Canada Economics Weekly Is there a bright side to the collapse in oil prices? The bright side of the recent collapse in oil prices is the sinking Canadian dollar, which will encourage stronger US demand for cheaper Canadian goods and services. More generally, the collapse in... 19th January 2015 · 1 min read
DM Valuations Monitor Swiss franc most overvalued DM currency after surge? The surge in the Swiss franc that followed the abandonment of the Swiss National Bank’s exchange rate ceiling against the euro means it is now the most overvalued of all the developed market (DM)... 16th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Uni. of Mich. Consumer Confidence (Jan.) The rise in the University of Michigan measure of consumer confidence to an 11-year high in January supports our view that the fall in retail sales in December was nothing to worry about. Fed... 16th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices & Industrial Production (Dec.) Even though headline inflation will spend most of this year in negative territory, if we’re right in thinking that core inflation is unlikely to fall much further, the Fed will still raise interest... 16th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly How hard will the oil price slump hit mining investment? Following the collapse in crude oil prices, a sizable drop in mining investment is inevitable. Nevertheless, the shale oil boom, which has been going for less than a decade, is so new that it’s hard... 16th January 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (Dec.) Although the Teranet-National Bank measure shows house price inflation slowing slightly to 4.9% in December, from 5.2%, price gains are still outpacing growth in household incomes. The upshot is that... 14th January 2015 · 1 min read
Bank of Canada Watch Oil price slump unlikely changes neutral rate outlook As a large net oil exporter, the slump in the price of oil is a worrisome downside risk to Canada's economic outlook, which will be offset only partially by the sinking Canadian dollar. For the time... 14th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Retail Sales (Dec.) Despite the 0.9% m/m fall in the value of retail sales in December, it still looks as though real consumption growth in the fourth quarter was a decent 3.5% annualized and GDP growth was close to 3.0%... 14th January 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update What next for US government bonds? We still expect the 10-year US Treasury yield to rise this year from its current level of around 1.9% as the Fed begins to tighten policy, but have decided to lower our end-2015 forecast significantly... 13th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Update NFIB & JOLT surveys hard to square with wage weakness The latest batch of survey data released this morning suggest that labour market conditions are even stronger than we previously believed and leaves the slowdown in wage growth looking even odder. 13th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Update What would keep the Fed on hold? Despite the prospect of inflation spending most of this year below zero and the mixed news on wages, we still believe that the Fed will raise rates by June at the latest. Nonetheless, it is worth... 13th January 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Collapse in oil prices point to stagnant investment The Bank of Canada's latest Business Outlook Survey results show that the collapse in oil prices has significantly undermined domestic business confidence and could well result in a near-stagnation in... 12th January 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Slump in oil price spells danger for Canadian economy The lower global crude oil prices fall, the bigger the negative impact will be for a net exporter like Canada. Alongside the severely overvalued housing market, the collapse in oil prices is a major... 12th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update How will lower oil prices affect housing? If production and employment are scaled back, housing markets in some oil-producing States, which have recently been among the most buoyant, could potentially suffer. But any drag that this may... 12th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Market moves provide a further fillip to growth The boost to economic activity from the further plunge in oil prices and decline in 10-year Treasury yields since late last year will more than offset any additional drag from the further rise in the... 9th January 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Dec.) The combination of a decent 252,000 rise in payroll employment in December and a further fall in the unemployment rate to 5.6%, from 5.8%, still leaves the door open to the Fed raising interest rates... 9th January 2015 · 1 min read
