Friday, October 19, 2007

Economic & Market Trends in the US - Part One


What! Economic stuff on a blog for shop owners and technicians? In an effort to provide a snapshot of our economy that you may find useful to your business proposition, read on - Not to worry, it won't be high-falutin. It's very bare-bones, my take on what's happening in our world and how it will affect our market.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - currently Bullish. GDP was a little over 1% in 3rd qtry, 2006, less than 1% in 1st qtr 2007, but through the end of 2nd atr 2007 is almost 4%.
Consumer Price Index - This tells us about out-of-pocket expenditures for the consumer, based on 200 products. When a change is greater than 0.4, the government considers that to be inflationary and is bearish. Growth of 0 to 0.4 is normal and is bullish. Through July 2007, the CPI is just at 0, considered normal/bullish.
Five Year Producer Price Index: the Bureau of labor Statistics PPI measures the selling price that manufacturers get for their goods and services (basically - what you are paying). Through July, 2007 reporting, the PPI is just over 0.05, so it is normal for growth and is bullish.
Five Year Light Sweet Crude: Not even going to give you the numbers. We all know they're on the rise.
Factory Orders: Non-durable goods have been on a steady increase since 3rd quarter, 2002. They dipped a little earlier this year, but appear to be on the rise again. Bullish. Durable Goods New orders: Same story. Though they dipped dramatically in the first quarter of this year, they have been strong since 3rd quarter, 2002 and continue to rise through July, 2007.

No comments: