Category Archives: ECONOMY

What Congress Might Do to Defuse Tax Time Bomb

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

President George W. Bush left behind a ticking time bomb that is set for Dec. 31, 2010. If Congress does nothing, taxes on wages, capital gains and dividends will leap, the estate tax will be resurrected at a 55% rate … Continue reading →

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Posted in ECONOMY, TAXES, US economy | Leave a comment

CHINA EARLY WARNING INDICATOR

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

China’s NBS publishes a monthly scoreboard of 10 important economic statistics. The color system gives a dynamic view of the evolution of the Chinese economy. The June indicator declined from 110 to 106.7 indicating that the economy is slowing into … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, China economy, ECONOMY, LEADING ECON. INDIC. | Leave a comment

CHINA INDUSTRIAL AND POWER OUTPUT SLOW DOWN

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

China’s industrial output is facing various impacts from the government’s efforts to reduce energy consumption and pollution, regulate local financing platforms, and measures for cooling the property market. In June, value-added output from large scale industries increased 13.7 percent from … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, COMMODITIES, China economy, ECONOMY | Leave a comment

Schwarzenegger declares California fiscal emergency

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over the state’s finances on Wednesday, raising pressure on lawmakers to negotiate a state budget that is more than a month overdue and will need to close a $19 billion shortfall. … Continue reading →

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Posted in ECONOMY, FISCAL STIM./DEF., US economy | Leave a comment

US HOTEL BIZ SEES NO WEAKENING IN DEMAND

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Smith Travel Research (STR) reported today that U.S. hotel RevPAR increased a strong 8.6% industrywide last week, bringing the trailing-four-week average RevPAR increase to 8.3%. This strong growth-driven by both occupancy and rate improvement and which was even stronger at … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***RECOVERY WATCH, ECONOMY, US economy | Leave a comment

THE COMING TAX BITE FOR AMERICANS

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Much is being written about the discontinuation of the Bush tax cuts next January. Dennis Gartman provides the numbers each American is most concerned with. If we only concern ourselves with the biggest spenders, their discretionary income will be shaved … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CONSUMER WATCH, ***RECOVERY WATCH, CONSUMER, ECONOMY, RETAILING, TAXES, US consumer, US economy, USA retailing | Leave a comment

DURABLE GOODS ORDERS DECLINE BUT NON-DEFENSE-EX-AIRCRAFT RISE AGAIN

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Durable goods stats can be misleading, especially when new aircraft orders plunge by 25.6%. Haver Analytics  provides the basic info but make sure to read National Bank Financial Group’s take before putting all your chips on the double dip square. … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***RECOVERY WATCH, ECONOMY, MANUFACTURING, US economy | Leave a comment

US ARCHITECTURE BILLING INDEX STABLE IN JUNE

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

There was a negligible increase in the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) last month. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***RECOVERY WATCH, ECONOMY, US economy | Leave a comment

CHINA RESIDENTIAL MARKET REMAINS HEALTHY

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

CLSA’a Andy Rothman remains optimistic on China and its housing sector: Our view on the residential market is based in part on our belief that housing fundamentals in China are very healthy – – strong demand, primarily from owner/occupiers; very … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, ***HOUSING WATCH, China economy, China housing, ECONOMY, HOUSING | Leave a comment

CORPORATE TAX RATES AROUND THE WORLD

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

Via Dennis Gartman who, rightly, complains about the fact that US corporate tax rates are 33% higher than the average. These are current 2010 rates, set to rise in the US (and likely also elsewhere, but not everywhere) next year. … Continue reading →

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Posted in CURRENCIES, ECONOMY, TAXES | Tagged | Leave a comment

SURVEY SAYS CHINA WAGES UP 10.1% IN 2010

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

An income survey report, based on 5,866 enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, released by Zhaopin.com in July, shows that the average wage rise was 10.1 percent so far this year, 1.9 percentage points higher than 2009. The statistics from … Continue reading →

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Posted in CONSUMER, China consumer, China economy, China employment, ECONOMY, EMPLOYMENT | Leave a comment

CHINA DEVELOPERS CUT PRICES

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Denis Ouellet

More property developers have began to cut prices and adjust their business portfolios to cope with sluggish transaction numbers due to government tightening of the real estate sector. According to Li Wenjie, general manager of property agency Centaline China’s North … Continue reading →

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Posted in ***CHINA WATCH, China economy, China housing, ECONOMY, HOUSING | Leave a comment