Econ70
The Friday File: Last week a single lot of 114 bottles of Romanee-Conti burgundy wine sold at auction for $1.6 million, or $14,035/bottle or OMG, $2,550/glass! The price of $1.6 million broke the old record for a single lot of…
Read MoreGerman industrial output fell 4% and manufacturing activity dropped 5.7% last month. Italy is back in recession, France’s GDP growth is 0%, the IMF is calling for European officials to “do more” and the risk of Europe entering a recession…
Read MoreBeyond the terrible human toll, Ebola is exacting a huge financial cost. By 12/31/2014 Ebola will cost Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone $360 million; 3% of GDP – equivalent to $500 billion here in the US – and all of…
Read MoreThis past week was the 12th straight that the US dollar has strengthened against a basket of six major world currencies. As a result, the price of oil has been falling. As oil is quoted in US dollars, as currencies…
Read MoreLast Friday’s employment data had something for everyone. Payrolls grew by a whopping 248,000, the unemployment rate plummeted to 5.9%, its lowest level since 7/08, and the number of involuntary part-time workers declined. But the labor force participation rate fell…
Read MoreThe Friday File: Former Fed head Ben Bernanke, someone who knows a thing or two about home mortgages as under his watch the Fed purchased $1.5 trillion of them, was unable to refinance his mortgage. Here’s a guy who earns…
Read MoreThe final reading of Q2 US GDP growth was just pegged at an annual rate of 4.6%. With this, US GDP growth has exceeded 3.5% for three of the past four quarters. Moreover, consumer spending is inching up, government headwinds…
Read MoreSales of new homes hit an annualized seasonally adjusted rate of 504,000, the best reading since 5/08. But one month is not a trend, the data are very volatile, and unusually, August had five weekends, prime buying time. YTD new…
Read MoreWith new cars sales hitting an annualized rate of 17.4 million last month, the best since 2006, there’s not much room for improvement. Boomers are driving less, half of all drivers are now women, income growth is flat, Millenials are…
Read MoreWith the league’s highest payroll at $239 million, it isn’t surprising the Dodgers made the playoffs and won 94 games. However, they spent $2.5 million/win! Conversely, Oakland with a payroll of $75 million won 88 games but only spent $850,000/win,…
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