US Housing Market Update FHFA's new house price index still falls short The FHFA's new "expanded-data" house price index is better than its other indices as it includes some purchases made with cash and non-conforming loans. However, as it is still a less comprehensive... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update SNB’s action won’t rescue the Swiss economy Today’s decision by the Swiss National Bank to apply a limit of 1.20 per euro to the franc is a bold move which it has pledged to defend at all costs. But in the end, there may be limits to how many... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Swiss franc peg vs. euro provides only qualified relief The Swiss National Bank’s decision to effectively peg the Swiss franc to the euro will provide some qualified relief to Croatia, Hungary and Poland, which have significant amounts of Swiss franc debt... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Will Japan follow Switzerland and cap the yen? The yen initially fell against the dollar following the Swiss move to set a formal limit on the strength of the franc. As it happens, we do not think that the authorities in Tokyo are ready to do the... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Mergers and Acquisitions (Q2) By volume, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity involving UK firms was weak in Q2, while the recent turmoil in financial markets does not bode well for Q3. Given that M&A is an important revenue... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP Breakdown (Q2) The breakdown of euro-zone Q2 GDP added to evidence that the region is in the midst of a broad-based slowdown. With growth likely to remain subdued, even in the core, we still expect the euro-zone to... 7th September 2011 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB’s action won’t rescue the Swiss economy Today’s decision by the Swiss National Bank to apply a limit of 1.20 per euro to the franc is a bold move which it has pledged to defend at all costs. But in the end, there may be limits to how many... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Vehicle sales: a good indicator of retail spending? Domestic vehicle sales in Japan appear to be closely correlated with both consumer confidence and retail sales. Recent sharp gyrations in the monthly retail sales data make understanding their... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Bahrain's GDP continues to grow despite the social unrest Higher oil and manufacturing revenues helped to offset the decline in Bahrain’s services sector in the second quarter of this year. What’s more, although the country’s GDP grew by only 0.8% y/y in Q2... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack Rise in buyer enquiries likely to be only temporary Despite rising unemployment and an increase in inflation, buyer demand seemed to improve on some measures this month. However, against historical norms, housing market activity remains at a very... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus How sustainable is Argentina's economic model? Argentina’s recent economic performance masks a series of debilitating distortions which threaten to undermine the nation’s future growth prospects. With regime change seemingly unlikely, we believe... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
BoE Watch Edging towards more QE Last month’s dovish Inflation Report, the about-turn of previous would-be rate hikers and the generally gloomy tone of recent news on the global and UK economies have pushed any remaining prospect of... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response CIPS/Markit Report on Services (Aug.) August’s CIPS/Markit report on services suggested that growth in the largest sector of the economy has slowed sharply – and has perhaps even turned negative. We continue to expect virtually no GDP... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly What's all the fuss about real GDI? Most analysts agree that real Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is another useful indication of economic activity. For the purposes of monetary policy, however, what ultimately matters, more than any other... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Australia’s cash rate more likely to rise than fall While the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely expected to leave its cash rate at 4.75% on Tuesday, the swap market suggests that the cash rate will be aggressively cut over the next 12 months... 6th September 2011 · 1 min read
