U.S. Freight Carloads Weekly – January 22, 2011
U.S. railroads originated 282,987 carloads, up 7.2% compared with the same week in 2010 and down 4.8% compared with 5-year average. Week over week change was -0.7%.
Archive for January, 2011
U.S. Petroleum Weekly – January 22, 2011
Crude oil stocks rose 2.6 million barrels; Gasoline stocks increased 4.4 million barrels; Distillate stocks were up 1.1 million barrels; Propane/propylene stocks were down 5.4 million barrels; Other oils stocks decreased 2.4 million barrels; Total crude oil and petroleum stocks were 2.4 million barrels higher for the week.
Refinery utilization fell 3.4% to 83.0%.
Implied crude oil demand fell 0.9 million barrels.
Crude oil and petroleum product net imports rose 0.2 million barrels to 9.5 million barrels.
Crude oil stocks rising, markets well supplied, demand weak.
Morning Reading – January 21, 2011
*** The Big Picture: Bull Market Duration and Strength ***
*** The Big Picture: Will We Have US State Bankruptcies? ***
*** China Financial Markets: The real cost of Chinese NPLs ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: We Get It ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: Dwindling Loan Loss Reserves ***
*** FT BeyondBRICs: Early mover: Indonesia enters correction ***
*** FT Alphaville: FROB! ***
*** FT Alphaville: The food price vulnerability index ***
*** FT Alphaville: From Fed run-offs to super-sized Treasury auctions ***
*** FT Alphaville: Silver backwardation is here ***
U.S. Natural Gas Weekly – January 21, 2011
Working gas in storage fell 243 Bcf from previous week. The consensus was at 233 Bcf.
Storage level 109 Bcf higher than same time year ago.
U.S. Existing Homes Sales Rose 12.3% In December
Sales of existing homes in U.S. rose 12.3% to 5.28 million units SAAR. Consensus was at 4.87 million.
January Philadelphia FED General Business Conditions Index At 19.3
Philadelphia FED General Business Conditions Index fell to 19.3. The consensus was at 20.8, prior revised (from 24.3) reading was at 20.8.
Industrial production will continue to slowly expand in January.
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims At 404.000; Down 37.000
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 404.000 vs. 420.000 consensus; last week revised (down 1.000) reading was at 441.000.
Lot of volatility, but 4 week moving average has decreased a bit.
Morning Reading – January 20, 2011
*** Bloomberg Businessweek: U.S. Stocks Near ‘Significant’ Top, Tom DeMark Says ***
*** Bloomberg: Apple’s `Underdog’ Analysts Outperform Wall Street From Helsinki, Caracas ***
*** Bloomberg: CFA Institute Unable to Grade Africa Exams After Papers Were Lost in Ghana ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: Did You Take A Bite Out Of Apple? ***
*** FT BeyondBRICS: China: are the risks crystallising? ***
*** FT Alphaville: From the desk of Jean-Claude Trichet… ***
*** Macro Man: Apocolypse When? ***
China Retail Sales Up 19.1% In December
China retail sales rose 19.1% in December vs. 18.7% consensus and also 18.7% growth in November.
China CPI Inflation In December At 4.6%; PPI Inflation At 5.9%
China Consumer Price Index was up 4.6% in August, right at the consensus. November reading was at 5.1%. Most significant contribution to inflation deceleration came from lower food price inflation.
China Producer Price Index was up 5.9% vs. 5.7% consensus and 6.1% November reading.
CPI number looks kind of tweaked, nevertheless the inflation should again pick up in January on increased fuel prices and seasonal effects (Lunar New Year is latter this year).
China Q4 GDP Growth At 9.8%
China third quarter GDP growth was reported at 9.8%, slightly better than third quarter growth rate of 9.6%. This time upside came from primary sector (agriculture, forestry…) and services rather than as usually from manufacturing.
In 2010 Chinese economy grew 10.3%,
Still quite high growth rates, I expect China will try to keep it’s economy growing at near 10% growth rate this year also. Biggest headwind will be inflation and with inflation connected interest rate increases. Looking at Q4 data Chinese growth looks quite resilient.
Daily Reading – January 19, 2011
*** FT Alphaville: More on the widening WTI-Brent spread ***
*** FT Alphaville: Weirdo Greek debt restructuring ***
*** FT Alphaville: Reflections on the weirdo Greek debt plan ***
*** FT Alphaville: The Pomo flip ***
*** The Big Picture: A Few Thoughts on Steve Jobs / Apple ***
*** The Big Picture: Total Market Cycle ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: We’ve Seen This Movie Before ***
*** Calculated Risk: Record Low Housing Completions in 2010 ***
*** Paper Economy: MBA Application Survey – January 19 2011 ***
U.S. Housing Starts Fell 4.3%; Number Of Building Permits Issued In The U.S. Rose 16.7%
U.S. housing starts in December fell 4.3% to 529.000 vs. revised (2.000 lower) 553.000 November reading. The consensus was at 550.000. On year level U.S. housing starts are down 8.2%.
January NAHB Housing Market Index At 16
Housing Market Index for January was reported at 16, unchanged from October. Consensus was at 17
Nothing improving in housing-land..
Evening Reading – January 18, 2011
*** FT Alphaville: Chinese inflation through surging online searches ***
*** FT Alphaville: Apple and Steve Jobs ***
*** FT Alphaville: Silver shortage rumours abound ***
*** FT Alphaville: Not a fat finger, just falling US Treasuries… ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: Sky-High Copper ***
*** CBS: Sports Betting: Billy Walters ***