Chad Hudson

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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• Data Dependency

  Published 06 July 2006 | viewed 3,603 times

  Last week, the Federal Reserve increased the fed funds target rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%. While this was widely expecte, the fed was…

• 5.5% by Year-end?

  Published 01 June 2006 | viewed 4,774 times

  The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the May FOMC meeting. The discussion noted that consumer spending had started to moderate and residential housing had…

• Is Economic Growth Weakening?

  Published 25 May 2006 | viewed 4,642 times

  Economic data has started to indicate that economic growth has stalled. Economists have been quick to highlight the weaker data as proof that the Federal…

• Inflation Inflates

  Published 19 May 2006 | viewed 5,483 times

  Last week, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased 0.5% in April from March. The largest decrease in month-over-month results was in building materials,…

• Strong Economy Propels Corporate Earnings

  Published 05 May 2006 | viewed 3,348 times

  The latest economic data continued to reveal that economic growth has remained strong. This should keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue to raise…

• Earnings Accelerate

  Published 27 April 2006 | viewed 3,098 times

  While earnings have grabbed investors' attention this week, several economic reports were released indicating that economic growth remains strong. Consumer confidence rose 2.4 points to…

• Near the End?

  Published 20 April 2006 | viewed 5,645 times

  This week the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the March FOMC meeting. The focus was on the comment that "Most members thought that the…

• Calm Before the Storm

  Published 13 April 2006 | viewed 5,914 times

  This week provided the calm before the storm. There are only a few companies reporting earnings this week and the economic calendar is uneventful as…

• Retail Sales Wane

  Published 06 April 2006 | viewed 4,159 times

  Consumer spending has been strong during the first two months of the year. It appears that consumer spending slowed in March. Most retailers will report…

• Gentle Ben?

  Published 30 March 2006 | viewed 4,185 times

  The FOMC had its first meeting under the helm of Ben Bernanke. Bernanke has been a proponent of the Federal Reserve offering more transparency and…

• 5.5% Fed Funds?

  Published 23 March 2006 | viewed 3,584 times

  Consumer prices rose 0.1% in February, which was inline with economists' forecasts. Energy prices declined by 1.2% and apparel priced dropped by a full percent.…

• Labor Market Helps Economy Expand

  Published 16 March 2006 | viewed 3,123 times

  Last week, the Labor Department reported that 244,000 new jobs were created in February. This was a little more than the 210,000 economists predicted, but…

• How Long with Growth Last?

  Published 02 March 2006 | viewed 3,969 times

  Fourth quarter GDP was revised higher to 1.6% from 1.1% estimated last month. The largest revisions were in inventories and higher corporate spending. Business fixed…

• Buying Everything Except the Kitchen Sink

  Published 16 February 2006 | viewed 5,713 times

  Consumers made it back to the mall after the holidays. Retail sales jumped 2.3% in January, and increased 2.2% excluding auto sales. Estimates were for…

• Housing Falters, but Rates go Higher

  Published 10 February 2006 | viewed 3,893 times

  The housing sector took another blow this week. Toll Brothers reported its preliminary results for the first quarter. While home building revenue increased 35%, new…

• Exit Stage Left

  Published 02 February 2006 | viewed 5,307 times

  The end of an era has arrived. Alan Greenspan stepped down as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. A position he has held since August 1987.…

• Earnings Cause Concern

  Published 26 January 2006 | viewed 3,281 times

  Existing home sales dropped to 6.6 million units. This was much weaker than the 6.87 million units economists were expecting and was the lowest selling…

• Tech Lays an Egg

  Published 19 January 2006 | viewed 4,406 times

  Fourth quarter earnings season started with a bang. On Tuesday, Intel and Yahoo! reported fourth quarter results that missed analysts' forecasts. Additionally, both companies said…

• Higher Costs Pressure Earnings

  Published 12 January 2006 | viewed 3,113 times

  Last week, the Labor Department reported that 108,000 jobs were created in December. This was about half of what economists expected. However, the number of…

• It's All About the Data

  Published 06 January 2006 | viewed 4,988 times

  On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from the December 13 FOMC meeting. Last month, the Fed removed the reference to policy being "accommodative,"…