Higher prices and tight inventory on existing homes are slowing home sales according to two reports released this week. Pending home sales for August, released by The National Association of Realtors, reports pending home sales retreated in August. The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contract signings, dropped 1.4 percent to 109.4 in August, compared […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update and is also a reasonably good predictor of steel demand with a six to nine month lead. For example […]
Total housing starts in August were at an annual rate of 1,126,000 which was the third best since October 2007. In August, the three month moving average (3MMA) was 1,166,000 which was the best result since December 2007. Total starts are still on track to reach 1.6 million units annualized by the end of 2018 […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison showing the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analysis of non-farm employment reported on Friday that 173,000 jobs were added in August which was slightly below Moody’s Analytics expectation. The number will likely be revised upward in subsequent months. June and July payrolls were revised higher by a combined 44,000. The unemployment rate, calculated from a different […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. July data was released on Tuesday September 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
Earlier this week, Steel Market Update hosted our 5th Steel Summit Conference. We had a record crowd in attendance tipping the scales at close to 300 people. We had 26 speakers over the course of the two day conference (including Peter Wright and John Packard of SMU) and, from our perspective, the longer term forecast […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update and is also a reasonably good predictor of steel demand with a six to nine month lead. For example […]
Existing home sales increased for the third consecutive month in July. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for July was at 5.59 million, up 2 percent from a downwardly revised 5.48 million in June. Sales were at their highest pace since February 2007, said the National Association of Realtors, but first time buyer sales dropped to […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. This month we have revised our data back through 1994 to account for massive revisions to the G17 data. Incidentally this is why many analysts question government data out of China who never revise their historical information. The US sometimes revises data […]
Sales of new single-family houses in June 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 6.8 percent below the revised May rate of 517,000, but is 18.1 percent above the June 2014 estimate […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. June data was released on Monday August 2nd. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
The S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices for May showed home prices continue to rise across the U.S. The 10 city composite posted a 4.7 percent gain year over year while the 20 City Composite gained 4.9 percent. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a 4.4 percent […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in at Steel Market Update and is also a reasonably good predictor of steel demand with a six to nine month lead. For example […]
The Architecture Billings Index jumped to 55.7 in June from a reading of 51.9 in May for the highest score since 2007. All design categories showed improvement except for multi-family construction which has been in a slowing trend so far in 2015. The new projects inquiry index rose to 63.4, from 61.5 the previous month. […]
Figure 1 shows published data for the growth of GDP, industrial production and consumer prices through Q2 2015. The GDP and industrial production portions of this graph are three month moving averages. The growth of GDP was unchanged in the Q2 at 7.0 percent which was faster than the 6.8 percent median forecast of 39 […]
We had begun to think that our projection for total housing starts to reach 1.6 million units annualized by the end of 2018 was optimistic but the June report put that projection back on track. Total starts in June were at an annual rate of 1,174,000 with a three month moving average (3MMA) of 1,144,000. […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put In Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. May data was released on Wednesday July 1st and historical data was revised back to January 2013. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update and is also a reasonably good predictor of steel demand with a six to nine month lead. For example […]
New home sales were at a seven year high in May, climbing 2.2 percent from April to an a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales outpaced the Bloomberg forecast of 523,000 and were 19.5 percent above […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 105.102 for May, down by 0.18 from April and down from the all-time high of 106.309 in November last year. The three month moving average, (3MMA) in May was 105.40, down by 0.23 from April. January […]
The surprisingly strong housing starts result for April was not repeated in May but the three month moving average did increase. Total starts were 1,036,000 down from 1,165,000 in April. This is an example of why we always focus on three month moving averages (3MMA) at SMU and don’t get too excited or depressed by […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our flat rolled steel analysis over the past four days. Based on the responses collected from those taking our survey we found a continuation of the optimistic trend that we have seen for a number of years now but, when compared to 2nd Quarter 2014 our index has been disappointing […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. April data was released on Monday this week. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
The consumer confidence index as reported by the Conference Board rose one point in May to 95.4 as April was revised downwards by one point. The composite value combines the view of the present situation and expectations. The view of the present situation rose from 105.1 to 108.1 as expectations fell slightly from 87.1 to […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. For the first time this month we have broken out the relationship between the CFNAI and flat rolled and long product apparent supply separately. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Housing starts surprised on the upside in April, possibly as a result of projects delayed by bad weather in the Northeast and Midwest picked up the pace. Total starts were 1,135,000 up from 944,000 in March. Single family were up by 16 percent and multifamily by 27 percent. At SMU we prefer to work with […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and the Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a quarterly forecast to the HARDI members located in the […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. March data was released on May 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In effect […]