Been pretty occupied

I have to apologize for not blogging as frequently as I did in the past. I`ve been extremely busy with my life.

I`ll be sitting for my FRM (Financial Risk Manager) exams in November.

Janet Yellen`s speech on inflation and monetary policy

The Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen spoke on inflation and monetary policy in front of an audience in the University of Massachusetts.

In her speech, she reiterated that the inflation level for instance is still below the 2.0% target which is the optimum point to spur the economy according to the Fed. Her full speech can be viewed here. 

Targeted LTROs frustrate

The European Central Bank (ECB) is giving a mere 15.5 billion euros in this month`s longer-term refinancing option (LTRO). In comparison, this was set at 73.8 billion euros in the previous period. Italian banks are set to request less than 3 billion euros worth of funds.

Reuters has a write up on this.

Unemployment claims at 267 thousand

The weekly unemployment claims gained slightly this week to 267 thousand claims.

Durable goods orders drop

Core durable goods orders were flat in September, down from a 0.4% growth in August. MarketWatch has brief write up on this.

Business confidence in Germany rises

The Ifo business climate index rose to 108.5 in September from 108.4 in the previous month.

However, the manufacturing sector continues to deteriorate. The full report can be found here. 

FOMC Lockhart`s speech

Dennis Lockhart, a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member spoke at the Buckhead Rotary Club. He commented on the recent monetary policy decision which did not raise rates in September. His speech can be viewed here.

RBA Stevens`s speech on economics

Governor Stevens of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) touched on economics in his speech to the House of Representatives Economics Committee. Interestingly, he expects the Federal Reserve to hike rates by Christmas.

His full speech can be viewed here.

FOMC statement: No rate hike

Last month, I wrote why the Federal Reserve cannot raise rates this month. The post can be viewed here.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)`s statement can be viewed here.

Philly Fed manufacturing index negative

The Philly Fed manufacturing index entered negative territory in September. The survey can be found here.

New home construction falls in August

Housing starts in the US fell in August to 1.13 million permits from an annualized pace of 1.16 million. Bloomberg has a write up on this.

Weekly unemployment claims down to 264 thousand

The weekly unemployment claims dropped to 264 thousand from 275 thousand recorded last week.

UK retail sales accelerates by 0.2%

Retail sales in the UK expanded at a pace of 0.2% in August. 

Other key points include: 

• The underlying pattern in the data, as suggested by the 3 month on 3 month movement in the quantity bought, showed growth for the 30th consecutive month, increasing by 0.4%.
• Compared with July 2015, the quantity bought in the retail industry is estimated to have increased by 0.2%.
• Average store prices (including petrol stations) fell by 3.3% in August 2015 compared with August 2014; the 14th consecutive month of year-on-year price falls.
• The amount spent in the retail industry increased by 0.2% in August 2015 compared with August 2014, but decreased by 0.3% compared with July 2015.
• The value of online sales increased by 7.4% in August 2015 compared with August 2014, but decreased by 2.7% compared with July 2015.  
• Revisions in this release were caused by the incorporation of late data. The earliest revisions point for current price, non-seasonally adjusted data was August 2014. More information on revisions can be found in the background notes.

The report can be found here. 

SNB monetary policy statement unchanged

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) left its monetary policy statement unchanged.

Services and primary industries contributed to New Zealand`s GDP growth

New Zealand`s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.4% in the June quarter. This was mainly attributed to the increase in meat and dairy farming.

The economic report can be viewed here.

UK inflation report hearings

The video stream for the UK inflation report hearings can be found here.

US CPI

Consumer price index (CPI) was at -0.1% in August while the core CPI was 0.1%. The consumer price index report can be found here.

Average earnings index up to 2.6%

The average earnings index grew at a rate of 2.6% in September. This is a 6 year high in terms of wage growth. The full labour market statistics report for September can be found here.

Retail sales in the US increases

In a Bloomberg write up, it was stated that retail sales in the US increased as "consumers may be looking past the recent volatility in financial markets. Well, sales grew but only at a pace of 0.1% for core retail sales and 0.2% for retail sales. This is deterioration from the previous period`s growth of 0.6% and 0.7% respectively.

Zerohedge has a more critically written article on this.

ZEW indicator: EM dampens outlook

The ZEW indicator of business confidence decreased to 12.1 in September from a level of 25.0 in the previous period. Emerging markets (EM) have been said to dampen Germany`s export oriented economy while the Eurozone economy has weakened as well.

The press release can be viewed here.