Worrisome Signs Series

US default rates edges up to highest since 2008/09 crisis

Mar 03, 2016 12:03 pm UTC| Commentary Economy Business

According to credit rating agency Standard Poor, US default rates edged up sharply in February and has reached highest level since 2009, surpassing the levels seen during the collapse of Lehman Brothers. In February it...

China Crisis Series

Supply-side structural reforms likely to pose headwinds to China’s growth in short-term

Mar 03, 2016 10:30 am UTC| Commentary Economy Politics

The NPC is expected to keep the supply-side structural reforms topic as its main topic on the macro policy agenda. Their key impact on financial markets is expected to be through the execution and implementation of five...

Oil in Global Economy Series

US economic rebound on track despite weakness in oil and gas sector

Mar 03, 2016 07:05 am UTC| Commentary Economy

The Feds recent Beige Book for February shows that economic activity in most of the Federal Reserve Districts increased. In Dallas and New York Districts, activity changed slightly, whereas it fell moderately across the...

Weaker euro and slow growth in Western Europe may weigh on CEE economies

Mar 02, 2016 09:05 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Hungary, Poland and Czech Republics PMI numbers for February were pretty strong. The PMI for Hungary and Poland both rose to 54.8 and 52.8, respectively, whereas for Czech Republic it dropped from 56.9 to 55.5. However, it...

Local and state government construction spending to boost US Q1 GDP growth

Mar 02, 2016 06:21 am UTC| Commentary Economy

US total construction spending expanded in January by 1.5% m/m, much above consensus expectations of a moderate increase of 0.3% m/m. According to the details of the report, local and state government spending are expected...

Turkey's economic sentiment dives on political uncertainty

Mar 01, 2016 17:17 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

Turkstat reported confidence indices for February, data showed headline economic sentiment declined sharply from 83.9 to 71.5, mainly on the weakness of consumer sentiment, but weakness was also evident in the services...

Absence of headwinds from net-exports and inventories likely pushed up Poland's Q4 2015 GDP

Mar 01, 2016 16:40 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

Poland Q4 2015 GDP data released on Monday showed headline GDP growth was 1.1% qoq. Data portrayed a stable economy at the close of 2015. Domestic demand contributed all of the growth during Q4. Details showed that...