Leading Indicators

No Hard Feelings

May 16, 2023 2 min read paid

The stock market fell today on Home Depot's disappointing guidance. Consumers fixed up their homes during the pandemic when social distancing restrictions kept many of them at home. By late last year and early this year, consumers pivoted from purchasing goods to spending on services. In other words, HD's y/y comps are challenging as housing-related retail sales have been weakening in recent months (chart). Today&

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: April 17-21

Apr 16, 2023 2 min read paid

This is a light week for economic indicators, but there will be plenty of earnings calls to keep investors busy. We will be focusing on the two regional business surveys for April released by the FRBNY (Mon) and the Philly Fed (Thu). Together, they tend to foretell the outcome of the three other regional business surveys released later this month as well as the national M-PMI (out early next month)

Ed Yardeni

What Are We Rooting For?

Dec 22, 2022 2 min read

On Tuesday, the stock market sold off on fears of a hard landing. On Wednesday, the market rallied on better-than-expected earnings reports from Nike and FedEx and better-than-expected consumer confidence. Today, the market sold off on news that the labor market remains tight, raising fears of higher-for-longer Fed rate hiking. On the other hand, the Index of Leading Economic Indicators, released today, was very weak. After the close yesterday, Micron

Ed Yardeni

Leading Indicators Seeing Recession Next Spring

Nov 23, 2022 1 min read paid

Ed Yardeni

Loose Lips Sink Bonds & Stocks

Oct 20, 2022 2 min read paid

The members of the FOMC ("Federal Open Mouth Committee") continue to sink prices in the fixed-income markets. The 2-year Treasury yield soared to 4.62% today, while the 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.24% (chart). The S&P 500 rallied through mid-morning, but then fell the rest of the day to 3665.78, just below the June 16 low. Triggering today's selloff in the

Ed Yardeni

Leading To A Recession?

Sep 22, 2022 1 min read paid

Ed Yardeni

Inflation Expectations Looking Peakish

Aug 8, 2022 1 min read

July's survey of consumer expectations (SCE), conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, had some good news for Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the financial markets too: (1) Median one- and three-year-ahead inflation expectations both declined sharply in July, from 6.8% and 3.6% in June to 6.2% and 3.2%, respectively. The press release noted: "Both decreases were broad-based across income groups, but

Ed Yardeni

No Recession In Truck Tonnage & Employment

Aug 1, 2022 1 min read

The trucking industry didn't get the recession memo yet. The ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 2.7% in June after rising 0.3% in May. In June, the index equaled 120.1, rebounding almost back to its pre-pandemic record high. Trucking is a good coincident indicator of the economy, representing 72.5% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and

Ed Yardeni

Leading Indicators Up, GDP Revision Down

Jun 7, 2022 2 min read paid

We have a mix of good and bad news this morning for you. We will start with the good news: Two of our favorite leading economic indicators—i.e., payroll employment in truck transportation and in temporary help services—rose to new record highs during May, according to Friday’s employment report (charts below). Both are highly correlated with the Index of Leading Economic Indicators, which is available through April.

Ed Yardeni

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