brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The Producer Price Index (PPI) surprised significantly to the downside in August, falling 0.1% – in contrast to the consensus forecast calling for a 0.3% increase – after spiking higher in July. Headline producer prices are up 2.6% from a year ago. “Core” […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The ISM Manufacturing Index rose to 48.7 in August but lagged the consensus expectation of 49.0. (Levels above 50 signal expansions, while levels below 50 signal contraction.) This marked the sixth consecutive month of contraction for the index. However, the major measures of […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The number of housing starts in July beat expectations and increased 5.2% month-over-month (MoM) to an annualized rate of 1.428 million, which marked the highest reading in five months. Multi family home starts rose 9.9% over the last month while single family homes […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a broad measure of inflation, rose roughly in line with expectations. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, came in slightly higher than expected, driven by the cost of services. Headline inflation rose […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The ISM Non-Manufacturing (or Services) Index declined to 50.1 in July, lagging both the consensus expectation of 51.5 and the previous month’s reading of 50.8. July’s figure trailed even the most pessimistic forecast from any economics group surveyed by Bloomberg. (Levels above 50 […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 U.S. job openings in June declined by 275,000 to 7.437 million, missing expectations, with notable drops in accommodation, healthcare, and finance, partially offset by gains in retail, information, and education. Hiring and separation activity remained stable, with quits and layoffs essentially unchanged. The […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 Existing home sales fell by 2.7% in June, falling below the consensus expectations to an annualized rate of 3.93 million. Sales hit a nine-month low as the median home price for existing homes rose 2% year-over-year (YoY), and high mortgage rates make current […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices increased, but were below expectations. Tariffs may have contributed slightly to the rise, but expectations of a broad-based increase in goods prices because of the trade policy were once again not seen in the report. CPI […]

brought to you by Philip Blancato, Osaic's Chief Market Strategist ECONOMIC REVIEW1 June’s NFIB Small Business Optimism Index edged down 0.2 points to 98.6, missing the 98.7 forecast and slipping from May's 98.8 reading. It remains near the 51-year average of 98. Rising inventory concerns and weaker sales expectations weighed on sentiment, while 19% of […]