U.S. Economy Update - Seeking Alpha...Mar 27, 2018 · regional surveys (Philadelphia & Empire...
Transcript of U.S. Economy Update - Seeking Alpha...Mar 27, 2018 · regional surveys (Philadelphia & Empire...
U.S.EconomyUpdateMarch2018
MonthlyUpdateBasedOnLeadingRegionalManufacturingIndices
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WhatIsThisReportAbout?(1/2)
• Thispresentationisdiscussingthelatestresultsofthefivemostimportantregionalmanufacturingreports.• EmpireState,Philadelphia,KansasCity,RichmondandDallas
• Allindicatorsareleadingwhichmeansthatyouareabouttofindoutwhatwecanexpecttohappeninthefuture.TheyevenpredictthenumberoneleadingindicatoroftheUSeconomy:theISMmanufacturingindex.
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WhatIsThisReportAbout?(2/2)
• Imadeanaverageofallindicestogiveyoualessvolatileandmorepreciseoutlook.• Thefollowingtopicswillbediscussed:
• Compositeindex• Neworders• Shipments• Employment(new)• Futurecapitalexpenditures• Pricespaid/received
• Notethattheindicatorspresentedwillhaveameaningfulimpactonthesegmenttheyarecovering.• Highercompositeoutlook->strongerGDPgrowth• Highershipments->tailwindfortransportationstocks• Higherpricesreceived->higherCPIinflation
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CompositeIndex
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Thecompositeindextookaratherbighitofalmost5pointsinMarch(downto19.6from24.2inFebruary).OnlytheEmpireStateindexshowedanimprovementfrom13.1to22.5.Allotherindiceswereeitherunchanged(Kansas)orlower.ItseemsthatthenextISMprintisgoingtobecloseto58.5.However,itistooearlytocallthenextgrowthslowingtrend.Simplybecauseitisstillpossibletogetabove-averagegrowthforanextendedperiodoftime.
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Shipments
ShipmentshittheirlowestlevelsinceAugustof2017aftergoingsidewaysforthepastfewmonths.Atthispointitseemsthatwecouldseelowerlevelsgoingforward.Furthermore,itisonceagainimportanttomentionthattworegionalsurveys(Philadelphia&EmpireState)increasedfrom15.5to32.4and12.5to27.0whichtookalotofpressureoffthecompositeindexgiventhattheotherindicesdeclinedbyroughly50%.
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NewOrders
NewordersarebackatJanuarylevelsafterhitting21.3inFebruary.Atthispoint,itlookslikewecanexpectISMneworderstocomeinslightlyabove60.Justlikethecompositeindexitisnotclearwhetherthisisthestartofagrowthslowingcycleorjustabreakatabove-averagelevels.
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Employment ThismonthIdecidedtoaddemployment.Itseemsthattheindexwasrightafterallgiventhatitpredictedthemostrecentemploymentsurgeofmorethan300KnewjobsinFebruary.Furthermore,theindexisstillatrocksolidlevelswhichsupportsfurtherjobgrowthinMarchandbeyond.
AlsonotethecommentfromthemostrecentDallassurvey.Ithinkitperfectlytellsthecurrentstoryofemploymentshortageandstrongergrowth.
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FutureCapitalExpenditures
CapitalexpendituresarethereasonIamnotcallingforaimmediategrowthslowingcycle.Capitalexpendituresdropped1.3pointsto35.5inMarchwhichisstilloneofthehighestlevelssincethestartofthisindexin2001.
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PricesPaid&ReceivedPricesreceiveddroppedabitfrom23.5to21.4inMarch.However,theyarestillindicatingthatconsumerpricesareabouttosoarhigher.Soareproducerpriceswhohadanotherincreaseto47.3points.Overall,thismeansthatthepressureonbondsremainsverystrongdespitebondsgainingsomestrengthduringthemostrecentstockmarketsell-off.
Conclusion
• OfficialISMlikelytohit58.5inMarch• USeconomyshowsfirstsignsofweaknesseventhoughitistooearlytocallit’growthslowing’• Consumerandproducerpricesareverylikelygoingtoacceleratefurther• Morepressureongovernmentbondsandsocalled’yieldtrades’likeconsumerstaples• Companieswillincreasinglyhavetoproducemoreefficientlyinordertostaycompetitiveinthisinflationaccelerationenvironment
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TheEnd
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WantToKnowMoreAboutEconomicIndicators?• Article:EstablishASolidMacroViewUsingTheTop-DownMethod• https://seekingalpha.com/article/4033524-establish-solid-macro-view-using-top-method
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