Industrial Production

Like Throwing Gasoline On A Fire

Sep 16, 2025 2 min read paid

The FOMC is likely to cut the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25bps tomorrow. Among the meeting participants, there might be one or more dissenters to the decision who favor a 50bps cut and one or more dissenters opposed to any cut. The Summary of Economic Projections may also indicate that FOMC participants are divided on whether and when further cuts might be necessary. Tomorrow's rate cut isn&

Ed Yardeni

PPI Report Comes With A Warning Label!

Jul 16, 2025 2 min read paid

On Tuesday, June's CPI report was warmer than expected. Today's June PPI report was cooler than expected. Yesterday, we argued that while Trump's tariffs may not be boosting inflation, they may have halted its fall to the Fed's 2.0% inflation target. Measures of consumer price inflation may be stuck closer to 3.0% for a while as a result. This reduces

Ed Yardeni

Is The US In A Recession?

Apr 16, 2025 3 min read paid

The S&P 500 is down sharply this afternoon. Losses started in the morning due to more Trump Tariff Turmoil (TTT) news. Nvidia's disclosure that the US government's new controls on its semiconductor exports to China would result in a $5.5 billion loss dragged down its shares and major indexes. Losses extended in the afternoon after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's prepared remarks

Ed Yardeni

'Liberation Day' Coming One Day After April Fools' Day

Mar 18, 2025 3 min read paid

The stock market rally of the past two days faded today. The S&P 500 fell -1.1%, just shy of correction territory. Even Nvidia fell 4.3%, even though the company announced new chips and a strategic collaboration with GM today. The 10-year US Treasury bond yield has been hovering around 4.30% since late February. The price of gold rose to another record high (chart). We suspect

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

CALENDAR: The Economic Week Ahead (Dec. 16-20)

Dec 15, 2024 3 min read paid

The main focus of the economic week ahead is the FOMC's interest-rate decision on Wednesday. The most likely outcome will be a 25bps cut of the federal funds rate (FFR) to a target range of 4.25% -4.50%. After a full 100bps of cuts since September 18, we expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell will use his press conference after the FOMC meets to signal that the Fed

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

US Economy Is Hot, Hot, Hot

Oct 17, 2024 3 min read

Today, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tracking model raised Q3's real GDP growth rate from 3.2% to 3.4% (saar) following a roaring September retail sales report (chart). Real consumer spending was revised up from 3.3% to 3.6%! Jobless claims fell despite worker strikes and hurricanes. Manufacturing also held up well notwithstanding Boeing layoffs and bad weather. Today's data further confirm our

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Consumers Are Still Shopping, Not Dropping

Aug 15, 2024 3 min read paid

This morning's data tsunami showed that the labor market remains in good shape and is fueling consumer spending. The latest data support our view that betting against consumers when jobs are expanding is a bad bet. In addition, cautious guidance by several consumer-related companies during the latest earnings reporting season might have been too cautious. Today on a call with analysts, Walmart's CEO Doug McMillon said,

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Consumers Consuming, Producers Producing & Treasury Borrowing

Jun 18, 2024 2 min read paid

May's retail sales, including food services, rose just 0.1% m/m, weaker than expected (chart). That's in current dollars. Adjusted for inflation, they were not as weak. CPI goods fell 0.1% m/m during May. So real retail sales, less food services, rose 0.3%. Much of the recent weakness in retail sales has been in housing-related merchandise since housing sales remain weak. Real

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Bad News About Goods Is Good News For Bonds & Stocks

May 16, 2024 2 min read paid

The Dow is flirting with 40,000 currently, confirming that good news is good news and bad news is also good news for the stock market these days. That's because the bad news is also good news for the bond market. On balance, the news is that inflation is moderating and the economy is growing. Yesterday's April CPI report confirmed that inflation remains on course to

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: April 15 - 19

Apr 14, 2024 2 min read paid

Following Iran's attack on Israel Saturday, geopolitics should dominate this week's market action. The Q1 earnings reporting season will also merit investors' attention. In addition, Fed officials are likely to chatter about whether any rate cuts are likely this year given last week's hotter-than-expected March CPI. And there are plenty of economic reports coming out this week. They are likely to show that

Ed Yardeni

It Was Cold In January, But Spring Is Coming!

Feb 15, 2024 2 min read

Retail sales fell 0.8% m/m in January, much weaker than expected (chart). Leading the way down was a 4.1% drop in building materials & garden equipment & supplies. Following the release of January's employment report, we anticipated some weakness in retail sales because the 0.2% increase in payrolls was offset by an odd 0.6% drop in average weekly hours (chart). Also weak during

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: January 16-19

Jan 15, 2024 2 min read paid

Last week had plenty of indicators that allowed us to assess the latest readings on US inflation: It is continuing to moderate. This week has plenty of reports that will allow us to assess the strength of the economy: They are likely to show some mixed readings for the goods sector. Most important will be December's retail sales (Wed). We know that aggregate hours worked fell 0.2%

Ed Yardeni

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