Consumer confidence took a hit in the storm-affected regions of the South, but overall remains at high levels, which is positive news for the U.S. economy. “Consumer confidence decreased slightly in September after a marginal improvement in August,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, an independent business research association based […]
Durable goods orders rose more than expected in August, picking up a gain of 1.7 percent versus a forecast for 1.0 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. The increase was welcomed after a 5.8 percent decline in July. A 45 percent jump in the volatile category of nondefense aircraft orders led the increase. Core […]
Consumer confidence increased again in August, according to The Conference Board. The composite value of consumer confidence in August was 122.9, up from 120.0 in July. The first estimate for July was revised down slightly. The last seven months have each been better than at any time since 2001. The three month moving average (3MMA) […]
Durable goods orders fell 6.8 percent in July, their largest margin since August 2014, as orders for volatile aircraft orders plummeted. Orders for civilian aircraft plunged 70.7 percent after a 129.3 percent surge in June. Transportation equipment orders in total dropped 19.0 percent. The drop in July was expected by economists after the strong gains […]
In the Key Indicators data released in July, both the present situation and trends have recovered from what now appears to have been a temporary downward blip in June. Trends lead the present situation by about four months. An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those […]
Consumers are feeling better about the present economic environment and their expectations for the future, according to data from The Conference Board, which conducts a monthly Consumer Confidence Survey. Consumer confidence is the driver of consumer spending, which is the largest component of GDP and ultimately drives a large portion of steel consumption. The composite […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Index fell 10 points to 9.8 in July, after hitting a two-year high in June. New orders and shipments continued to grow but at a slower pace in New York State, dropping 4.8 points and 11.8 points, respectively. Delivery times were reported as longer in the July survey and inventory levels […]
An explanation of the Key Market Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation, which is subjective, and our analysis of trends, which is based on the latest facts available. In the June […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator and for the official news release. The composite value of consumer confidence was 118.9 in June, an increase of 1.3 points from the May value. The last […]
U.S. automotive sales in May are in reach of the 1.52 million units forecast by Edmunds and WardsAuto. WardsAuto is reporting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.6 million for the month, just shy of its forecast for 16.8 million. Flat sales for the month would be welcomed by auto manufacturers that have seen sales […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator and for the official news release. Consumer Confidence decreased 1.5 points in May, falling to 117.9 but the last four months have each been better than at […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence decreased 4.6 points in April, falling to 120.3 but this is still the second highest reading since December 2000. The three month moving average (3MMA […]
The headline report of GDP growth in Q4 came in at an upwardly revised 2.06 percent which was a decline from 3.53 percent in the third quarter. GDP is measured and reported in chained 2009 dollars and in the third estimate of Q4 was $16.813 trillion. GDP is defined as Consumption (C) plus Investment (I) […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. The March report was excellent and handily beat expectations by rising to 125.6 from an upwardly revised 116.1 in February. The three month moving average (3MMA) has […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. The February report made up the January decline and then some, the three month moving average (3MMA) has improved for nine consecutive months and was the strongest […]
Existing-home sales in January increased at the fastest pace since February 2007, said the National Association of Realtors. January sales grew 3.3 percent year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million. The median existing-home price in January was $228,900, up 7.1 percent from January 2016 for the 595h consecutive month of […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. The January report indicated a small decline from December but the three month moving average (3MMA) was the strongest since August 2001. Consumer confidence is the driver […]
Please see the end of this report for an explanation of data sources. The Broad Index value of the US $ is reported several days in arrears by the Federal Reserve, the latest value published was dated January 20th (Figure 1). The dollar had a recent peak of 128.9627 on January 3rd which was the […]
US automakers set a new record for annual sales with a total of 17.465 million light vehicles in 2016, a 0.4 percent increase from 2015’s record year, according to WardsAuto. Sales in December reached 1.68 million units as consumers were attracted by manufacturer discounts. Incentives of 10 percent off sticker price were offered in December […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. The official news release from the Conference Board is included beneath our analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. The December report was very encouraging and came on the heels of an excellent […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. This article is normally reserved for our Premium level members but we are sharing it with all of our readers in an effort to give you some taste of what kind of analysis you get with a Premium membership to […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. At the end of […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, its lowest value since July last year, to 101.1 in August, then to 104.1 in September, it’s highest value since […]
The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, its lowest value since July last year to 101.1 in August, its highest value since September last year. Included below […]
Sources for the following article are the Conference Board and SMU analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May to 97.3 in June then eked out a small gain to 97.4 in July. Included below is the official news release from the […]
The PMI for the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business rose 1.9 percentage points to 53.2 in June, expanding for the fourth consecutive month. New orders gained 1.3 points and production 2.1 percentage points for readings of 57.0 and 54.7, respectively. The employment index grew 1.2 points to 50.4 percent. Inventories of raw materials registered 48.5, […]
This Key Markets Indicator report is something we produce for our Premium level clients. However, we thought that our Executive level readers would appreciate knowing… An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in […]
The Broad Index value of the US $ is reported several days in arrears, the latest value we have was dated June 24th, the day that the result of the UK’s referendum became known. There was no significant move in the value of the dollar on that day which may have been published before the […]
Sources for the following article are the Conference Board and SMU analysis. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator. Consumer Confidence jumped from 92.4 in May, the lowest value in 19 months, to 98.0 in June which was the highest value in 8 months. Included below is the official […]
This Key Markets Indicator report is something we produce for our Premium level clients. However, we thought that our Executive level readers would appreciate knowing why we continue to be bullish on the direction of the market based on our analysis of the Key Market Indicators. An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given […]