Business Cycle & Economics Blog of Caleb Lawrence
Stocks added modest gains in morning trade despite disappointing news. Durable Goods Orders fell 6.2% in October, twice expectations and the largest decline in 2-years, further inventories are rising and orders falling, trends that portend additional layoffs. Consumer Spending fell 1% last month as October saw the largest decline in 7-years as consumers continue to [...]
Stocks struggled in early trade on disappointing news. The latest on again, off again, Treasury financed impaired asset purchase program is back on with the Fed committing to 600 billion and another 200 billion to the TALF or Term Auction Lending Facility. Flip flopping like this does not inspire confidence, something that is desperately needed [...]
Stocks marked solid gains to begin the week on thin news, though the media heralded the Citigroup bailout as the catalyst, more on that in a minute. The FDIC worked overtime Friday to close three more banks, The Community Bank, Loganville GA #20, Downey Savings and Loan (the 3rd largest bank to fail this year) [...]
Stocks look to end another bruising week mixed. Since Monday the DOW has given up a little over 900 points or some 11% while the NASDAQ has shed a little under 200 points or about 12%. Citigroup the nations #2 bank has seen its share price collapse of late as it continues to try and [...]
Stocks slipped into the final hour on disappointing news. Initial claims for unemployment jumped 27,000 in the latest week to 542,000, a 16-year high. Initial claims broke the 4 million mark just 6-months after breaking 3-million as they hit 4.012 million a 26-year high. This report serves to underscore the rapid decline in the labor [...]
Stocks struggled in early trade on disappointing news. The CPI recorded its largest drop ever in the 60-year history of the Index as prices fell 1% in October, largely thanks to plunging energy prices. The Core rate also fell, slipping .1% its first decline in 27-years. Yet more evidence of the deflationary spiral thesis that [...]
Another volatile day on the street has stocks holding modest losses with an hour to go on mixed data. The NAHB index hit a record low of just 9 in November with almost all of the subcomponents falling off a cliff. The indices for present sales of single-family houses and traffic of prospective buyers also [...]
Volatile early trade has the major averages holding small losses to begin the week on thin news. Citigroup announced another 50,000 layoffs in a cost cutting move as the company struggles to regain profitability, this follows earlier layoffs this year of 23,000. Retired Republican Senator and co-sponsor of the Financial Services Modernization Act, the legislation [...]
Bank Bailouts First a few words on the bank bailout bill, or more accurately the bank handout bill as that is what it really is. Morally and personally I, like most of my fellow Americans, am absolutely outraged as this crises was not only preventable but also aided and abetted by the government largely since [...]
Hi and welcome to The Profit Motive, I’m your host Caleb Lawrence. Once upon a time in America the media acted as the watchdog of the corporations and the state. In the modern era it’s all about ratings and profits, opinion has been substituted for news and frequently is presented as fact. 
