Retail Sales declined 0.2% in April Retail sales declined 0.2% in April, matching consensus expectations. Retail sales excluding autos increased 0.5%, beating the 0.2% consensus expected gain. Sales in March were revised upward. All of the decline on overall sales can be attributed to motor vehicles and parts, which fell 2.8%. Excluding autos, most sectors had higher sales. The strongest sectors were building materials, restaurants/bars, and grocery stores. Sales... Read Full Story

Featuring A. F. Alhajji, Associate Professor at the College of Business Administration, Ohio Northern University. Moderated by Jerry Taylor, Cato Institute. The Cato Institute 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 Watch the Event in Real Video Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3) America's increasingly loud and bipartisan call for energy independence may well be having a negative impact on world crude oil markets. A. F. Alhajji, one of America's most widely... Read Full Story

The Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 0.3% in February The Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 0.3% in February versus a consensus expected rise of 0.4%. The PPI is up 6.8% in the past twelve months (seasonally adjusted). The increase in the PPI was not concentrated in any one sector. Energy prices increased 0.8% but food prices declined 0.5%. The “core” PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 0.5%, the largest increase in 15 months and much higher than the... Read Full Story

Housing Starts declined 0.6% in February Housing starts declined 0.6% in February to 1.065 million units at an annual rate. However, due to upward revisions for January, starts came in well above the consensus expected level of 0.995 million units. Starts are down 28.4% versus a year ago and off 53.5% from the peak in January 2006. Single-family starts fell 6.7% in February and are down 40.5% versus last year. Multiple-family starts increased, continuing to rebound from the... Read Full Story

Fed Answers Our Concerns Below are comments on today’s Fed Announcement of its new lending facility. In addition, we are re-releasing our 2/11/08 Research Piece titled“Fed Hesitation Hurting Economy”. The Federal Reserve announced this morning that it will lend, via auction, up to $200 billion in exchange for AAA-rated mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or other private banks. The funds will be auctioned weekly starting later this month and each... Read Full Story

January International Trade Balance The trade deficit in goods and services increased to $58.2 billion in January from $57.9 billion in December. The consensus expected a larger trade gap of $59.6 billion. Exports increased $2.4 billion in January and are up 16.6% versus last year. The increase in exports in December was led by services, food (such as corn), and industrial supplies (petroleum products and non-monetary gold). Imports increased $2.7 billion in January and are up... Read Full Story

SUPERPOWERS India to host next military exercise with China: report New Delhi India will host the second joint military exercises with China, as the neighbours continue to mend ties after a brief but bitter border war in 1962, a report said Sunday. The first-ever military manoeuvres between the world's most populous nations were held in China in December, when about 200 Indian and Chinese troops jointly "took out" a group of supposed terrorists along their border. ... more SUPERPOWERS Pan... Read Full Story

Traders, Investors and Economists Traders are different than investors. Traders use capital to finance short-term trading strategies. Investors use capital to finance long-term ownership stakes in good businesses. Most traders don’t care if the market goes up or down. They can make money either way. And while many investors can roll with the markets’ punches, most investors hope to buy low, sell high, collect dividends, and own good companies that go up. Both traders and... Read Full Story

Productivity increased at a 1.8% annual rate in Q4 Non-farm productivity (output per hour) increased at a 1.8% annual rate in the fourth quarter versus a consensus expected gain of 0.5%. Non-farm productivity is up 2.6% versus a year ago. Real (inflation-adjusted) compensation per hour in the non-farm sector declined at a 0.3% annual rate in Q4 and is also down 0.3% versus last year. Unit labor costs were up at a 2.1% rate in Q4 and up 1.0% versus a year ago. In the... Read Full Story

January Employment Report Non-farm payrolls declined 17,000 in January while revisions to November and December added 9,000. The consensus expected a gain of 70,000. Private sector payrolls increased 1,000 in January. The weakest sectors were manufacturing (down 28,000), construction (down 27,000, all of which were in home building), and professional and business services (down 11,000). Healthy sectors included education and health (up 47,000), leisure/hospitality (up 19,000), and... Read Full Story