Archive for November 2015

Happy Hoteliers 2015 is shaping up to be the best year ever for hotels, better than the record year of 2000. Occupancy rates then were 66.9% YTD, they are now 67.9%. Year-to-date the average daily rate for an occupied room is $120.73 and the average revenue per room (which includes vacant rooms) is $90.23. These…

The Friday File: The busiest airport travel day of 2015 was August 7th, with 2.91 million sold seats. The day before Thanksgiving was the 121st busiest airport travel day of 2015. That said, November 29th, the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be the second busiest day of the year with 2.905 million sold seats. Of the…

In 1960, the average weight of a commercial turkey was 16.8 pounds. By 1996 it was 23.7 pounds and today, thanks to the miracle of selective breeding, it’s 30.4 pounds. Because of the enormous rise in average weight, the number of turkeys raised is down. In 1996, 293 million birds were raised, last year, just…

While Q3 GDP growth is now pegged at 2.1%, up from the first estimate of 1.5% last month, the revisions mix wasn’t great. The biggest contributor to the rise, inventory growth. This suggests Q4 GDP growth will be slightly weaker and manufacturing hasn’t fully adjusted to the strong dollar and slower global growth. Contributions from…

After hitting a post-recession low of 8 in mid-2011, the number of countries experiencing 2% inflation or less is now 42. Similarly, while no nations experienced inflation rates below zero back in mid-2011, now 20 nations are. Moreover, the number of nations falling into these categories isn’t declining. This is why most central banks continue…

The Friday File: Based on answers given by 150,000 adults in 148 countries on a five-question multiple choice financial literacy test that included questions on inflation, interest rates, and investing and that always had a correct answer, the US came in 14th with a score of 57%. Norway, Denmark and Sweden were tied for first…

Q3 GDP growth in Europe slowed to 0.3%, from 0.4% in Q2 and 0.5% in Q1! Europe’s gains from cheaper oil and rising exports from the weakening euro appear over. With inflation in the Eurozone at 0.1% Y-o-Y, the ECB will do more monetary easing. This will make it harder for the Fed to raise…

In Q3/15, retail e-commerce sales were $87.5 billion, up 4.2% from Q2/15. Total retail sales in Q3/15 totaled $1.185 trillion, up 1.2% from Q2/15. Retail e-commerce now represents 7.4% of all retail sales, up from 6.5% a year ago. Moreover, comparing Q3/14 to Q3/15, the rise in retail e-commerce sales has accounted for roughly 60%…

While Japan is again in recession with GDP falling by an annualized 0.8% in Q3 and 0.7% in Q2, looks are deceiving. The population peaked at 128 million in 2008 and will shrink by about 800,000/year through 2060, an average population decline of 0.625%. Population adjusted, growth is flat. The bigger problem: corporate investment is…

Given that the only criteria for a currency obtaining Special Drawing Right (reserve) status by the IMF are that the nation be a big exporter and the currency widely used, the decision to add the Chinese yuan to the dollar, euro, pound and yen isn’t surprising. In August, the Yuan passed the Yen to become…