Month: 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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,…