http://blog.skyig.com Commentary and news on issues effecting SKY clients Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:20:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This is a light news week following the Labor Day vacation. The Beige Book’s release Wednesday should hold very few surprises and Thursday’s jobless claims report will, hopefully, show some improvement. International trade, also released on Thursday could be interesting if exports perk up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=588 Tomorrow’s important “employment situation report” out of the Department of Labor should show very little change in employment based on the recent reports, including today’s jobless claims report. Home sales showed signs of life as homes under contract increased slightly in July, the first sign of stability since the stimulus ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=586 It’s all about the consumer today. Consumers seem to be saving a little less (but saving all the same!) and spending a little more. The savings rate, which was as low as 1.4% in 2005, is currently at 6.2%. The Consumer Confidence index for August shows the consumer ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=582 Repeating Tuesday’s theme of uncertainty, companies put new orders for capital goods on hold as indicated by the 2.8 percent drop in July’s new orders number. On a positive note, new jobless claims dropped substantially for the week of August 21, the delinquent mortgage rate improved over the quarter, and ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=577 “Uncertainty” is the keyword. Last week’s Empire State index and Philly Fed indexes indicated that business respondents are “uncertain” about next six months. Specifically, the Philly report shows that labor costs and taxes are the source of uncertainty. Business’ uncertainty translates to fewer new hires which, in turn, ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=574 Today’s big news in the market was a small increase in initial unemployment gains, which given the erratic nature of this government report, does not actually seem newsworthy. The bigger picture shows the federal deficit shrinking and Cisco’s earnings looking strong. The Treasury's deficit improved by $15.7 billion ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=571 The recovery continues at a slow pace, with spending and employment slightly ahead of where we were last year. The FOMC announcement for the August 10 FOMC policy meeting leaves the fed funds rate at between zero and 0.25 percent, but will keep its balance sheet constant….(keeping securities) at their current ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=568 Many economic indicators have been released in the past few days. It is easy to be confused by what is old news, meaning it happened in June, and what is more current news. Reports from June show housing sales and personal income were flat. July’s ISM report ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=564 Much fuss was made yesterday of the headline new orders for durable goods number that decreased $2.0 billion or 1.0 percent to $190.5 billion in June. But if one looks carefully at the report, stripping away the volatile defense and aircraft orders, it shows growing demand in the business ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=562 Today’s economic numbers indicate the consumer is beginning to release pent up spending. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, while slipping on expectations and the present situation, showed an increase in consumers planning to buy a car or a major appliance in the next six months. Perhaps we will ... http://blog.skyig.com/?p=559