Chart of the Day: "Uncle Sam’s Free Money Drying Up Fast" h/t @DA_Stockman pic.twitter.com/JQaVNxFGsX
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 16, 2018
global synchronized growth narrative collapses pic.twitter.com/8bjvPwWhHx
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 16, 2018
BBG: JPN's economy shrank for the first time in 2 years during the 1st quarter, contracting more than expected on a surprise fall in business spending and flat private consumption. Yet economists expect a rebound in the current quarter as the global economy regains traction pic.twitter.com/4zdbC3Z484
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 16, 2018
#OOTT pic.twitter.com/L486IXhJp6
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 16, 2018
Global stocks sink as soft China data, trade fears weigh
World stocks fell on Tuesday as investors digested soft Chinese economic data and a lack of progress in U.S.-China trade talks, though oil companies were a bright spot as crude hit a three-and-a-half-year high.
Is there a crisis brewing in $EEM?? pic.twitter.com/QZYByZuTvH
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 15, 2018
"Oops! #China deleveraging already over? China’s April credit report showed stable loan growth in bank lending at 12.7%y/y, On MonPol, the earlier tightening bias has been removed, and monetary policy stance is returning to neutral. (via JPM)," h/t @Schuldensuehner pic.twitter.com/nceHP1QyXn
— Alastair Williamson (@StockBoardAsset) May 15, 2018
Whatever one might think about the U.S. political situation, it’s hard to deny that the economy is doing just fine. In April, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent, a 17-year low. At this point, there’s a job opening for every unemployed person in the country. Not bad.
In the spirit of seeing the glass as half empty, though, it’s worth asking whether this state of affairs portends something more ominous. For economists, the unemployment rate has always been a lagging indicator: It’s like looking in the rear-view mirror. It tells us where the economy was in the not-too-distant past.