Retail sales rose 3.0% in January (+2.9% including revisions to prior months), beating the consensus expected increase of 2.0%.  Retail […]

View from the Observation Deck Today’s post compares the performance of consumer stocks to the broader market, as measured by […]

Markets have been volatile, with reports convincing many that the Fed is done hiking rates.  But this week, we get […]

View from the Observation Deck As we come to the close of the 2022 earnings season, we thought it would […]

The trade deficit in goods and services came in at $67.4 billion in December, slightly smaller than the consensus expected […]

At the beginning of the season, not many predicted that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in the Super Bowl this […]

The ISM Non-Manufacturing index increased to 55.2 in January, well above the consensus expected 50.5 (Levels above 50 signal expansion; […]

Nonfarm payrolls increased 517,000 in January, easily beating the consensus expected 188,000.  Payroll gains for November and December were revised […]

Nonfarm productivity (output per hour) increased 3.0% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, coming in above the consensus […]

The Fed downshifted to a smaller rate hike to start 2023, but the job is far from done. As expected, […]