Consumer Spending Numbers Are Skewed
Consumer spending in the U.S. rose 0.7 percent in December, more than forecast, capping its strongest quarter in more than four years, according to figures from the Commerce Department. Mike McKee and Betty Liu report on Bloomberg Television‘s “In the Loop.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Look, I am not refuting the data, but come on, really? I would say that consumer spending as a whole, is not up at all. In fact, I would say it’s down quite a bit.
First of all, look at the sources that are reporting higher sales…Coach, Tiffany’s and other high-end retailers. This is not the common household and does not represent consumer spending accurately.
Second, the reports say that manufacturing is submitting a greater number of purchase orders and that they are doing more hiring. Well, I can say that they are probably putting in orders because they want to fix their price on those orders from China and other countries, so they can benefit from today and not tomorrow. As far as employment goes, there are a lot of Fortune 500 companies that still post jobs, but don’t fill them or they fill them internally and now assign several roles to one person, where it took three people to fill those roles before.
Next time give us the real numbers that contain all of the data and not just a half truth.
Inflation and Interest Rates
There was a tick up in the euro zone composite PMI to 56.3 from 55.5 in December, but it has had little effect on the euro, as new session lows were recorded in late morning turnover in London. The emphasis on the euro’s recovery over the past two weeks, has been shifting interest rate expectations.
In the Wall Street Journal, the ECB President commented that higher commodity prices are not translating into wage increases. This means that he would have to overlook the temporary jump in inflation.
Forex News
The US dollar took a wrong turn against most major and emerging market currencies today. The Euro has broken through and rallied in short-term trading. There is some speculation that the EU will intercede for Greece and provide aid, but it seems very premature and would undermine the austerity plan in place for Greece and would not allow them to implement it. This would surely cause a ripple for Spain, which is unwelcomed.
Forex News
Worries coming from the rest of the world that the US is being too onerous on its banks, which is somewhat affecting the currency markets. G7 did not come out with a concrete plan, but did say they will make sure that Greece will respond and begin to tackle its fiscal deficit.
EURUSD is going to trade higher today and would be a good buy. EURJPY is a good buy as well. USDCHF is in overbought territory and should be sold at this level.
Currency View for the Week
Jan 27
Posted by John Taxiarchos
The force that has been driving the US dollar thus far, shifts in inflation expectations and relative yield changes, will remain present for the rest of the week.
Euro zone CPI is expected to rise again this week. This could provide some momentum for the ECB meeting on Thursday. Further Euro gains may be attained if the CPI is in line with consensus.
The UK GDP instilled fear of a slowdown, as household spending and consumption remain weak. Weak housing data will cause a possible selloff. The Sterling will also be sensitive to the slowdown in Chinese PMI, which is expected to be moderate.
The Yen will continue to be the most sensitive currency on interest rate differentials versus the dollar, where strong US data prints this week may provide the dollar a break from January’s high near JPY84.00.
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