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A little, with an FYI
Jan. 6th, 2009 12:27 pmI have rather significant repetitive stress injury history in both arms, and the last few days have been particularly bad. As such, I've been cutting back a lot on computer use, which hampers my ability to write my economics posts - or, really, anything else. It's very, very annoying. But here're a few high notes.
A lot of US states are seeing budget troubles worsen, dramatically and quickly. (That points to an article with table data, you can look up your own US state, if applicable.) California's problems are best known, but are not unique.
We have the first real retailer sales report - Borders canned their CEO after holiday sales were down 14.4%. That's a big number. US Factory shipments in November fell a record 5.3%, so expect more.
Automobile sales data for December was brutal - I'd like to link to tf:rvacha's amalgamation, but I can't, so I'll reproduce it here: Daimler AG sales down 23.5%. Ford sales fell 32.4%. Chrysler sales were down 53%, but I don't have a link. GM sales fell 31%. Porche sales fell 25.5%. Audi America did better than most, down only 9.3%, but they're a small player. Toyota sales fell an astounding 36.7%, Honda down 34.7%, BMW down 35.9%, Nissan America sales fell 30.7%. Low-end wasn't better, with KIA America sales down 39.2%.
The flight from US securities by private investors (noted several times by Brad at the CFR, linked here) has made the mainstream media. The article also notices that treasury sales to central banks and sovereign wealth funds continue reasonably brisk, which is a damn good thing given soaring US debt. But that's old news. More interestingly, China has " has launched the experiment of using the yuan as a reserve currency in relations with 8 countries." That's super-cool. (Interestingly, the US dollar doesn't seem to care - the index is up this week. Also, the Persian Gulf states have reaffirmed their 2010 goal for a common currency. We'll see.)
I've got more but it'll wait until another post. Oh, check Karl's commentary, "Why What They're Doing Can't Work." Basically, it talks about something most people don't understand and nobody understands intuitively: the power function.
More when my hands calm back down.
A lot of US states are seeing budget troubles worsen, dramatically and quickly. (That points to an article with table data, you can look up your own US state, if applicable.) California's problems are best known, but are not unique.
We have the first real retailer sales report - Borders canned their CEO after holiday sales were down 14.4%. That's a big number. US Factory shipments in November fell a record 5.3%, so expect more.
Automobile sales data for December was brutal - I'd like to link to tf:rvacha's amalgamation, but I can't, so I'll reproduce it here: Daimler AG sales down 23.5%. Ford sales fell 32.4%. Chrysler sales were down 53%, but I don't have a link. GM sales fell 31%. Porche sales fell 25.5%. Audi America did better than most, down only 9.3%, but they're a small player. Toyota sales fell an astounding 36.7%, Honda down 34.7%, BMW down 35.9%, Nissan America sales fell 30.7%. Low-end wasn't better, with KIA America sales down 39.2%.
The flight from US securities by private investors (noted several times by Brad at the CFR, linked here) has made the mainstream media. The article also notices that treasury sales to central banks and sovereign wealth funds continue reasonably brisk, which is a damn good thing given soaring US debt. But that's old news. More interestingly, China has " has launched the experiment of using the yuan as a reserve currency in relations with 8 countries." That's super-cool. (Interestingly, the US dollar doesn't seem to care - the index is up this week. Also, the Persian Gulf states have reaffirmed their 2010 goal for a common currency. We'll see.)
I've got more but it'll wait until another post. Oh, check Karl's commentary, "Why What They're Doing Can't Work." Basically, it talks about something most people don't understand and nobody understands intuitively: the power function.
More when my hands calm back down.
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