Economy

September 2, 2008

Stocks: New Season, Same Worries

This week it will feel different on Wall Street, and it's not just the change of season. Stocks have traded wildly all summer, pushed and pulled by the fluctuations in...

August 28, 2008

Vital Signs: Will Employment Get Worse?

The headliner in this week’s batch of economic news will be the Labor Dept.’s report on the August job market. Economists expect another moderate drop in payrolls of ...

August 28, 2008

The Economy's Upside Surprise

by BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff For the U.S. economy, the surprises keep coming. One day after the release of a report that showed an ...

August 27, 2008

Manufacturing: Where's the Slowdown?

By BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff The U.S. factory sector appears to have weathered the summer months in better shape than economists had ...

August 26, 2008

Housing: Is the Slowdown Slowing Down?

By BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff The U.S. consumer may be feeling a bit more optimistic, but the state of the housing market remains ...

August 25, 2008

The Credit Crunch Cuts Deeper and Wider

On Wall Street, the yearlong credit crunch continues to hog headlines. For example, the future is still in question for investment banks like Lehman Brothers (LEH) and...

August 22, 2008

The Final Fate of Fannie and Freddie

The market's pummeling of Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) eased up a bit on Aug. 21, after four days of selling. But with the stocks both down more than 85% ...

August 19, 2008

Health Care: The Real Fiscal Nightmare

A heated discussion is taking place in the economic blogsphere over the rival tax plans of Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Of course, the battle ...

August 19, 2008

A Double Dose of Bad Economic News

by BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff Two economic reports for July released on Aug. 19 fueled financial market fears that the U.S. economy is...

August 14, 2008

July Inflation Is a Real Scorcher

By BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff An energy-fueled 0.8% monthly surge in consumer prices—double the rate expected by ...

August 12, 2008

Is the Rebate Rebound Losing Steam?

The tax rebates have boosted consumer spending in recent months, but signs suggest the impact is beginning to wear off. Consumers spent the rebates more rapidly than ...

August 5, 2008

Why Bailouts Stink and Why We Need Them

Congress and the White House moved with surprising speed (measured by Washington legislative time, of course) last month to pass a bill aimed at bailing out the U.S. ...

August 4, 2008

How to Keep Your Job in Hard Times

These are uncertain times for the U.S. labor market. Companies such as Merrill Lynch (MER), Sony (SNE) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), which have either posted losses or ...

August 4, 2008

Fed Watch: What the Pros Are Saying

The Federal Reserve remains in a tricky position with respect to its Aug. 5 policy meeting. U.S. economic growth remains sluggish, and risks that the economy could tip...

August 1, 2008

U.S. Economy: Gauging the Risks

Beyond the projection of gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation, we include outlooks for other major economic categories, such as home and auto sales, employment, ...

July 31, 2008

The Beauty of the Bear

After coming in like a lion, July went out like a lamb. The beauty of a bear market is that investor psychology gets so negative, and forward-looking assumptions ...

July 31, 2008

Vital Signs: A Sharply Divided Fed

All eyes this week will be on the Federal Reserve’s policy committee, which meets on Tuesday. Look for its decision on interest rates and its accompanying policy ...

July 31, 2008

Jobless-Claim Surge Spooks Wall Street

By BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff members Wall Street, already jittery about what the Aug. 1 release of July's U.S. employment report ...

July 30, 2008

Jobs: The Slump Stretches into Summer

The U.S. labor market likely remained in the doldrums in July. The government's employment report for the month, scheduled for release Aug. 1, looks poised to extend ...

July 28, 2008

The Economy: Red Ink and Fed-Think

The bill is coming due for the U.S. economic stimulus plan, and it's a whopper. In a report released on July 28, the Bush Administration said the U.S. budget deficit ...

July 25, 2008

Stocks End Higher on Economic News

Major U.S. stock indexes finished higher on Friday, getting an injection of investor optimism about the economy on better-than-expected durable goods orders and new ...

July 24, 2008

Vital Signs: A Weaker Second Half?

This week will offer a look back at the second quarter and a peek ahead at how the second half of the year is shaping up. For the Commerce Dept.'s initial estimate of ...

July 17, 2008

Vital Signs: Earnings Winners and Losers

The second-quarter earnings season kicks into high gear this week, with 159 S&P 500 companies set to report. By the end of the week, half of the S&P 500 will have ...

July 16, 2008

Britain Appears Recession-Bound

Every week brings ever gloomier news on the British growth outlook, and the "R-word" is now frequently used in discussions about Britain's economy. Falling house ...

July 16, 2008

Inflation, Industrial Data: A Mixed Bag

By BusinessWeek, Standard & Poor's, and Action Economics staff Two economic reports released July 16 reaffirmed the market's concerns about the pace of inflation, but ...