84 results for:

John Keefe

• A Second, Direct Stimulus May Be In The Works

  The notion of a second stimulus package, with provisions to directly create the millions of jobs that have yet to spring from the first round, comes to us from the astute economist Calculated Risk, via his eponymous blog. CR is a retired senior executive, from a financial services company I...

  Blog posts | Nov 13, 2009

• U.S. Banks Are Still Shrinking Their Loan Books

  The research staff Federal Reserve reaches out to bank senior loan officers every three months, to get a feel for the markets in lending to business, commercial real estate, home mortgages and credit cards. Like so many economic data points this year, the October 2009 survey tells us that while...

  Blog posts | Nov 12, 2009

• The Fed's Comments Last Week, and the Market's Reaction Since

  The Bernanke era of the Federal Reserve will be remembered by economists and investors for many reasons, but the most flattering is that the Bernanke regime avoids mumbo-jumbo in explaining what it's up to. In its statement last week on the recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the...

  Blog posts | Nov 9, 2009

• Retail Sales Beat Last Year's Weak Turnout, But Are Still In a Slump

  Each week, watchers of the retail industry release two different flash reports on the latest sales. The reports, out Thursday, show that late October showed the best numbers in over a year, but as we've seen in housing, car sales, manufacturing, and just about everywhere else, the credit crisis...

  Blog posts | Nov 5, 2009

• India Prefers Gold Over Paper, As Developed Economies Pile On Debt

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, announced it bought 200 metric tons of gold, worth $6.7 billion, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It's a good-sized purchase in the world of gold, but in wealth terms not that big a deal, even for a so-called emerging country...

  Blog posts | Nov 4, 2009

• What's Behind That +3.5% GDP Headline

  The U.S. stock market rose sharply on Thursday on a surprisingly strong GDP report - the first quarterly growth in more than a year. It's a start to a recovery, but production, employment and consumption are going to have to be more broadly based for the economy to get back on a decent...

  Blog posts | Nov 1, 2009

• Durable Goods Orders and Shipments Plod Along

  Economists are putting the best face possible on today's report of September 2009 durable goods orders and production, with a percent gain here and there. And yes, September makes five increases out of the last six months. But the drop in manufacturing in this downturn has been staggering, such...

  Blog posts | Oct 28, 2009

• 3Q 2009 Earnings: When Are The Customers Coming Back?

  After 2009's second quarter, U.S. corporate earnings provided some pleasant surprises to the stock market. The better-than-expected profits generally were the result of cost cutting (giving us today's high unemployment), but investors were not choosy about the source of the profit strength and...

  Blog posts | Oct 26, 2009

• Leading Economic Indicators Show A Nice Recovery, But Are They Still Relevant?

  The Conference Board released its monthly index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for the U.S. this week, making a string of six positive reports. The index rose by one point, to 103.5; four of this year's monthly gains have been greater than one point, suggesting a strong recovery is in the...

  Blog posts | Oct 23, 2009

• TARP Inspector General Gives Program, And Treasury, Low Marks

  In his latest quarterly report card for the TARP program, released October 21, Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky provides a discouraging record. For the program itself, progress in spurring loan growth is slow, and in spite of news tidbits to the contrary, the return on taxpayers'...

  Blog posts | Oct 21, 2009