US The Fed raised the upper bound limit one quarter of a percentage point to 1.75% on Wednesday in a widely expected move, despite less than positive data in Q1. Business fixed investment and household spending moderated from Q4, the policy statement acknowledged, but an upgrade to labor market conditions encouraged the FOMC. The decision [...]
In recent years, large segments of hedge funds had been struggling with poor performance, thanks to the low volatility environment we had been seeing in the markets. This was even beginning to lead to a lot of client fund redemptions. However, in February we finally saw volatility make a dramatic shift and move heavily upwards. [...]
US Retail sales edged down 0.1% in February, with broad-based declines in a number of categories. Excluding auto sales, total sales rose 0.2%. The closely watched control group, which feeds into the calculation for GDP, rose a modest 0.1% for the month following a flat reading in January. Much like the business investment sector, a [...]
US Employment growth strengthened in February with businesses adding 313,000 new jobs. That pushed the three-month average up to 242,000 after a net of 54,000 jobs also revised job gains in December and January higher. Strength was widespread across industries, including gains of 50,000 in retail, 28,000 in financial services and 61,000 in construction, which [...]
US US factory sector data released this week showed another divergence between the “hard” and “soft” data. On the hard data front, private equipment spending looks to be cooling after increasing at a double-digit pace in the third and fourth quarters of 2017. Durable goods orders fell 3.7% in January, with much of the decline [...]
