Chad Hudson

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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• Recession is Most Likely Outcome

  Published 07 February 2008 | viewed 3,185 times

  Last week, the weak employment report helped justify the Fed's historic actions. It also provided more evidence that the economy has slowed and the likelihood…

• Can the Fed Stop the Recession?

  Published 31 January 2008 | viewed 4,243 times

  The Federal Reserve lowered rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday topping off a 75 basis point intra-meeting cut last week. This 125 basis point…

• Is the Great American Spending Boom Over?

  Published 17 January 2008 | viewed 4,619 times

  Over the past month, more and more economists have moved over into the recession camp. The latest Wall Street Journal survey of economist found there…

• Inflation Inflates

  Published 20 December 2007 | viewed 3,651 times

  Housing starts dropped in November to 1.187 million. Analysts pointed out that housing starts appear to have bottomed. While November starts were below October, they…

• The Fed Underwhelms

  Published 13 December 2007 | viewed 2,868 times

  On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve shocked investors by not only cutting the target Fed Funds rate by 25 basis points but dropped the discount rate…

• 25 or 50?

  Published 07 December 2007 | viewed 4,275 times

  Last week, speeches by Fed officials Kohn and Bernanke opened the door for more cuts either next week or in the near future. While 25…

• No Holiday Cheer for Consumers

  Published 29 November 2007 | viewed 3,208 times

  The holiday shopping season started off with conflicting reports. ShopperTrak RCT reported that Black Friday sales were up 8.3%, while the National Retail Federation said…

• Consumer Spending Slows, Corporate Earnings Fall

  Published 16 November 2007 | viewed 2,641 times

  Last week, retailers reported October sales that were weaker than expected, and expectations were tepid. The ICSC reported that October sales increased 1.6%, the same…

• Earnings Weigh on Market

  Published 25 October 2007 | viewed 3,162 times

  Third quarter earnings have continued to disappoint investors. Roughly half of the S&P 500 companies (237) have reported third quarter earnings. Of those, earnings are…

• Earnings Growth Disappears

  Published 18 October 2007 | viewed 3,669 times

  The early results for third quarter earnings do not look too encouraging. Over the past couple of months, earnings estimates dropped from 4.1% at the…

• Has Consumption Stalled?

  Published 11 October 2007 | viewed 3,977 times

  Last Friday, the Labor Department reported that 110,000 new jobs were created. This was slightly ahead of the 100,000 economists were expecting. The bigger story…

• Is Lowe's Forecasting a 2-year Drought?

  Published 27 September 2007 | viewed 5,671 times

  Lennar reported third quarter results this week. On a GAAP basis the homebuilder lost $3.25 per share, which included a $3.33 per share charge for…

• Will 50 Basis Points Circumvent a Recession?

  Published 20 September 2007 | viewed 5,265 times

  Last week, the Commerce Department reported that Retail sales increased 0.3%. The primary growth driver came from autos. Excluding auto sales, sales fell 0.4%. On…

• BLS Removes All Doubt

  Published 14 September 2007 | viewed 4,055 times

  Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shocked economists and investors when it reported that 4,000 jobs were lost during August. Economists were expecting a…

• Wal-Mart Rolls Back More Than Prices

  Published 23 August 2007 | viewed 4,556 times

  Earlier this month, the ICSC reported that chain store sales advanced only 2.6% in July. This was the fourth consecutive month that same store sales…

• More Signs of Slowing Growth

  Published 09 August 2007 | viewed 4,035 times

  Most retailers will report July same store sales on Thursday. The results along with their comments will shed light on the health of the consumer.…

• Earnings Get Overshadowed

  Published 03 August 2007 | viewed 3,746 times

  During the past week, the deepening problem in the mortgage market has sent the markets into turmoil. It will take a while to fully grasp…

• Will Earnings Justify Market Rally?

  Published 19 July 2007 | viewed 3,995 times

  Consumer prices increased 0.2% in June, which was slightly higher than the 0.1% economists were expecting. Compared to last year, prices are 2.7% higher, which…

• Economic Crosscurrents

  Published 29 June 2007 | viewed 3,840 times

  After economic growth slowed during the first quarter, almost all economic data released during the first part of the second quarter indicated that growth started…

• Will Consumers Rebound?

  Published 31 May 2007 | viewed 4,084 times

  Inflation fears eased after the Labor Department released the latest Producer Price and Consumer Price Indexes. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 0.4%…