Philip Chua Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘November’

The stock market eked out a gain as investors took glum economic news in stride. The small gains still left stocks with a loss for the week but the Dow and S&P 500 logged their best month since November.









Gross domestic product – Business – Economy – Government – Investing

After having increased by a total of 3% in October and November, retail sales dropped by 0.3% mom in December, as car sales fell slightly despite industry reports of another rise. However, in January, the announced drop in domestic vehicle sales could actually translate into higher car sales in the…

Leading indicators went up sharply by 0.9% mom in November – the eighth consecutive increase. We expect leading indicators to have risen markedly again in December, by about 0.7% mom. The steeper yield curve will have been the main contributor to the rise, followed by the drop in jobless claims….

Americans borrowed less for a 10th consecutive month in November with total credit and borrowing on credit cards falling by the largest amounts on records going back nearly seven decades.









Credit card – Business – Financial services – Personal Finance – Banking Services

Inventories held by wholesalers posted an unexpectedly strong gain in November while sales shot up by the largest amount in 10 months.







Business – Wholesale – Wholesale Trade – Salesmanship – Marketing and Advertising

With the New Year upon us, we see the circle of life that is likely to define the U.S. economy and markets through 2010. The U.S. labor market was much weaker than expected in December. While we did get a positive print for November after revisions, this paled in comparison…

Non-farm payrolls declined by a mere 11k in November – the best result since December 2007. The deterioration in the labour market is abating, but given the negative assessment of labour market conditions in the latest consumer confidence survey, non-farm payrolls could nevertheless have fallen again by about 10k in…

Pay attention to the bond market. The ten year Treasury closed at 3.80% on Friday. It has risen 0.65% since November 27th. The yield curve difference between the two and ten year Treasury notes is the steepest on record. Thirty year fixed mortgages were 5.28% on Friday, up 0.32% in…

(SINGAPORE) Food prices have risen consistently over the past few months. And given erratic climatic conditions, they could become even more of a concern going forward.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4 per cent in November from October. The increase was attributed mainly to the higher cost of housing, recreation and other items, and food.

As a result of dearer vegetables, fruits and ric… more

The greenback has extended its recovery, bringing the USD rebound against the EUR to nearly 6% since the 1.5150 high at the end of November, and erasing all the losses seen in the 4Q. The current environment continues to develop into a perfect storm against the EUR in particular, and…