The Daily Shot Brief – August 17th, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: It’s important to keep in mind that consumer confidence measures in the US tend to be politically biased. The average trends, however, still tend to be very useful for economists.   China: The nation’s housing supply has been tightening, boosting residential construction activity (which, in addition to anti-pollution regulation, raised …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 10th, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: US tariffs are expected to hit lower-income households disproportionally.   China: China’s trade surplus continues to trend lower.   The Eurozone: The Eurozone GDP tracker is off the highs but appears to have stabilized. The ECB is likely to proceed with the conclusion of its securities purchase program.   Equity Markets: …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 9th, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: Without the appropriate policy adjustments, the federal budget deficit could worsen dramatically over the next couple of decades.   China: The PBoC has stabilized the renminbi (for now).   Cryptocurrency: This chart shows the relative market capitalization of the largest cryptocurrencies.   Equity Markets: Outflows from mutual funds have accelerated this …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 8th, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: The rising “quit” rate (voluntary resignations) points to higher wage growth ahead.   China: While modest (relative to 2015/16), capital outflows continue.   Cryptocurrency: Here is Bitcoin’s market cap vs. global funds’ AUM.   Equity Markets: Investors continue to ignore the massive economic impact of looming US-China trade war escalation. …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 6th, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: The spread between US households’ views on “current conditions” and “future expectations” is highly elevated. Are we approaching peak levels (usually a precursor to an economic slowdown)?   China: Here is a comparison of China’s market capitalization with Japan.   Cryptocurrency: How do cryptocurrency transaction speeds compare to other payment platforms? …

The Daily Shot Brief – August 2nd, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: This chart shows US job growth trends across the skills spectrum.   China: Developers in China are highly leveraged.   Global Developments: Manufacturing activity growth is slowing globally.   Emerging Markets: Are EM fund flows stabilizing?   Food for Thought: The costliest disasters:     Edited by Joseph Cohen To receive …