Already did a Stock Sweep, so I hope you didn't come here looking for one....
"The nation’s largest retail trade group has pared its annual sales forecast because of slower-than-expected growth during the first half of the year tied to winter storms and lingering economic woes. A series of winter storms hurt retailers particularly in the first quarter, keeping shoppers at home and forcing some stores to close temporarily. That business was hard to make up. Stores are still dealing with the economy as they head into the back-to-school shopping season, the second-largest shopping period behind the winter holidays. Even as the job market is rebounding and the housing market is improving, many are not benefiting from these improvements."
Yeah, it's going to the top 5% with the greater concentrations going to those at the apex of the pyramid.
Related: US consumer confidence jumps to 90.9 in July
I don't mean to get all huffy and puffy, but.... !!!!
"The long-awaited surge in hiring at small businesses appears to be underway. Owners who resisted hiring after the recession are taking on workers to keep up with rising demand for products and services. Companies began stepping up their hiring pace in the spring. The ripple effect from growth in construction and consumer spending is feeding the increase, says Susan Woodward, an economist who helps software maker Intuit compile its hiring surveys."
Appears to be. Doesn't mean it is, it just appears that way -- or so says my agenda-pu$hing whoreporate pre$$. It's now the ripple effect as opposed to the trickle urine on you effect.
I mean, pampering is back, a region is recovering, their is a flood of orders, and fewer holdouts." It's all good!
"The Federal Reserve intends to end its bond-buying program in October provided the economy continues to grow, according to an account published Wednesday of the central bank's most recent policymaking meeting. The minutes of the June meeting reflected the confidence of Fed officials that the economy had rebounded from a rough winter and their expectation that growth would continue over the next few years. But it also reflected the growing consensus that damage from the recession would continue to limit the pace of growth."
We just had a first-quarter contraction!
Related: Fed chief says economy still needs aid by Binyamin Appelbaum | New York Times
Do I even have to type it?
Fed is weighing key issues but may reveal little
"The Federal Reserve offered a mixed message on the US economy Wednesday: Growth is strengthening, and the unemployment rate is steadily falling. Yet by some measures, the job market remains subpar....
Related:
‘‘It feels to me like the job market is humming’’
Not everyone is feeling that way.
Have I told you how sick I am of the imagery and illusion that reinforce the conventional narrative and myth in my propaganda pre$$ lately?
Economists said the Fed’s statement showed that Yellen remains firmly in control of the policy committee even though Plosser and other officials who are more concerned about inflation are starting to express their views more openly. This group is known as hawks. Yellen’s camp, which is more focused on maximizing employment, is known as doves."
So which bird would you prefer pick your pocket?
That is so formulaic, and must be why the GOP doesn't like her:
"House Republicans frustrated by the Federal Reserve’s expansive economic stimulus campaign, and its growing role as a financial regulator, are renewing their efforts to constrain the central bank. The Fed would be required to set monetary policy based on a published formula under legislation introduced this week by leading Republicans on the Financial Services Committee. Other bills would eliminate the Fed’s responsibility to maximize employment or eliminate the Fed entirely. The bills face uncertain prospects in the House and have no future in the Senate while it remains under the control of Democrats. But they highlight ideas that Republicans are likely to revisit if they win both houses of Congress in the midterm elections."
Something stuck out to me there, and now you know why within the narrow AmeriKan political bubble I am nominally Republican.
"Spring rebound after harsh winter for Mass., US economies" by Megan Woolhouse | Globe Staff July 30, 2014
The Massachusetts economy shook off its winter doldrums and rebounded strongly in the spring, according to an analysis by the University of Massachusetts and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
The state’s economy expanded at annual rate of 4.9 percent in the three months from April through June, after contracting slightly between January and March, according to the report, published Wednesday in the UMass economics journal MassBenchmarks.
“It’s a bounce-back,” said Daniel Hodge, an economist and managing editor of the journal. “It’s solid growth we’re seeing overall.”
The US economy also revived in the spring, growing at 4 percent annual rate after contracting 2.1 percent in the first three months of the year, the Department of Commerce reported Wednesday.
They revised the contraction down to 2.1 and gave us phony fraud growth for the second quarter. That will be revised down later, as if I believe anything they say.
F*** thi$.
MassBenchmarks calculates the state’s economic growth four times a year. Its methodology, which analyzes a variety of economic data, has produced estimates that show stronger growth in Massachusetts than shown by official figures calculated by Commerce Department, which publishes state estimates annually....
The point is this report makes Mass look even rosier.
Alan Clayton-Matthews, a professor of economics at Northeastern
University who compiles and analyzes the data used in the UMass
estimate, said the state’s economy faces challenges as a growing number of older, skilled workers retire and not enough younger workers with similar skills are available to fill those vacancies. He said that problem has become especially apparent in manufacturing, where many employers bemoan a shortage of skilled workers.
“They’re leaving in larger numbers than they’re being replaced with by younger workers,” he said. That shift “has already started, and the effect will be getting stronger as the years go on.”
Related:
“The story for the Massachusetts economy, if you ignore high levels of unemployment and inequality, is the economy has been performing very well.”
Who said that?
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Grain of $alt, sorry.
Also see:
US stocks plunge, wiping out July’s gains
Everyone is to blame but the Fed!
Good thing Sanofi was inoculated against the swing and Ameresco didn't disappoint.
Wish I could say the same about today's Globe.
UPDATE: US hiring surge continues with 209,000 jobs added in July
Pffffft!
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Economy ‘revving’ after 6 months of US job growth; But Fed not expected to act on interest rates" by Christopher S. Rugaber | Associated Press August 02, 2014
WASHINGTON — A sixth straight month of solid 200,000-plus job growth in July reinforced growing evidence that the US economy is accelerating after five years of sluggish expansion.
If you count official lies as evidence anyway.
Employers added 209,000 jobs last month. Though that was fewer than in the previous three months, the economy has now produced an average 244,000 jobs a month since February — the best six-month string in eight years.
They got around the "but," though.
At the same time, the Labor Department’s jobs report Friday pointed to an economy that has bounced back with force after a grim start to the year and is expected to sustain its strength into 2015.
Yup, ‘‘there is no doubt.’’
************
In an encouraging sign, more people without jobs have started to look for one — a shift that nudged up the unemployment rate in July to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent. Most of those who began searching last month didn’t find jobs. But the increase suggests they’re more optimistic about their prospects. The jobless aren’t counted as unemployed unless they’re actively seeking work.
Ever hear of fool's gold and the axiom "figures lie and liars figure?"
Still, Americans’ paychecks are barely growing. That gives the Federal Reserve leeway....
Yeah, all the wealth has gone to the top thanks to the Fed printing press that will keep on rolling.
Investors were unimpressed.
So am I.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 70 points....
All that is important. How's that Dow?
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I think I'm all done $weeping for a while. Will give it a quick $troke tomorrow for the benefit of others, but after that....
