Marketwatch 666

Widely watched reports released during the past week included the Retail Sales report for May and its companion the Business Sales and Inventories report for April , both from the Census Bureau; the May report on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization from the Fed, and the May report on New Residential Construction also from the Census Bureau.. This week also saw the release of the first two Fed regional manufacturing reports for June: the Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the New York Fed, which covers all of New York state, one county in Connecticut, Puerto Rico and northern New Jersey, reported their headline general business conditions index fell to –16.0 June, from –9.2 in May, indicating that a larger plurality of that district’s manufacturers are experiencing a slowdown than were a month ago..…meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey , covering most of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, reported their broadest diffusion index of manuf...

Major reports released last week included the May Consumer Price Index, the May Producer Price Index and the May Import-Export Price Index , all from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories report for April from the Census Bureau….in addition, late on Friday of the prior week the Fed released the Consumer Credit Report for April , which showed that overall consumer credit, a measure of non-real estate personal debt, expanded by a seasonally adjusted $18.9 billion, or at a 4.3% annual rate, as non-revolving credit expanded at a 3.3% rate to $3,689.1 billion while revolving credit outstanding grew at a 7.0% rate to $1,321.4 billion… Consumer Prices Rose 0.1% in May on Higher Prices for Food, Shelter, Utilities, Medical Care, and Electricity The consumer price index was 0.1% higher in May, as higher prices for rent, groceries, eating out, electricity, prescription drugs, appliances, recreational goods, household and vehicle insurance, and vehic...

The major economic releases of last week included both of the major monthly employment reports: the Employment Situation Summary for May and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for April, both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in addition to the Commerce Dept’s report on our International Trade in Goods and Services for April , the April report on Construction Spending (pdf), and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for April , with both of those from the Census Bureau.… Privately issued reports released this week included the ADP Employment Report for May , wherein the national payroll processor reported a 37,000 job increase in May, the light vehicle sales report for May from Wards Automotive, which estimated that vehicles sold at a 15.65 million annual rate in May, down from the 17.27 million annual rate of sales in April, and down from the 15.90 million annual sales rate of May a year ago, and the Mortgage Monitor for June (cov...

The key economic releases of the past week were the second estimate of 1st quarter GDP and the April report on Personal Income and Spending , both from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the April advance report on durable goods from the Census bureau….This week also saw the release of the widely watched March Case-Shiller Home Price Index from S&P Case-Shiller , an index which is computed from the relative average of January, February & March home sales prices as compared to home sales prices of the same homes when they sold ​d​uring previous 3 month periods; the Case Shiller index indicated that home prices nationally for those 3 months averaged 3.4% higher than prices for the same homes that sold during the same 3 month period a year earlier, down from the 3.9% year over year increase they reported for their February national index, covering prices for December, January and February… In addition, the last two regional Fed manufacturing surveys for May were also release...