The Daily Shot Brief – August 28th, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index hit another multi-year high (the highest since 2001). Will this trend translate into higher spending? For now, big-ticket items such as houses and autos don’t seem to reflect this consumer exuberance. For example, inventories of crossover SUVs are piling up at dealers despite a significant …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 23rd, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: The FOMC officials have become less concerned about upside risks to inflation and growth as the fiscal stimulus legislation gets delayed.   Credit: Most Federal Home Loan Banks have seen capitalization improvements over the past year.   Equity Markets: Inflows into the largest international equity ETFs have slowed.   It’s increasingly difficult …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 21st, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: As discussed previously, the recent dollar weakness will result in higher import prices. In particular, prices of industrial supplies and materials are expected to rise. On the other hand, the dollar’s weakness should help boost US exports.   Bitcoin: Bitcoin’s global trading volume has been climbing rapidly. It’s now comparable …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 17th, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: The markets saw the concerns about this persistently low inflation by some FOMC members as a dovish sign. Treasury yields and the dollar slumped.   Credit: More investors see corporate debt as overvalued.   Equity Markets: High-frequency trading revenues continue to shrink as market volatility collapses.   Emerging Markets: South …