US crude oil imports fall to 12-year low
Financial Times | Mar 1
US crude imports have fallen to their lowest level for a decade as a result of weak demand and growth in domestic production, making the economy more resilient to oil price rises. The US imported 8.91m barrels a day of crude oil last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the lowest amount since 1999.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
ISM Index: Manufacturing Activity Cools A Bit In February
The modest retreat in the ISM manufacturing index for February may be nothing more than monthly noise, although a fall in this benchmark certainly won’t help sentiment after this morning’s disappointing news for personal income and spending in January. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index slipped to 52.4 last month, down from January’s 54.1 reading. That’s hardly fatal, but it’s definitely not helpful, particularly today. In any case, it’s something of a surprise: Economists were expecting a rise, according to Bloomberg.
Slowing Income & Spending Levels Cloud Economic Outlook
Consumer income and spending eked out gains last month, although the increases aren’t enough to dispel doubts about the strength and staying power of economic growth. But initial jobless claims are still holding at the lowest levels in four years and so there’s still hope that the cyclical demons can be held off. The critical variable remains the labor market, and the ability of job growth to keep wages growing, which in turn will help keep the pace of income and spending from falling further. The good news is that wage growth rolls on, and so the case for optimism is far from hopeless. But energy prices rising and fears of a fresh round of Middle East turmoil, there’s precious little room for disappointment in the economic reports in the weeks ahead.
Major Asset Classes | Feb 29, 2012 | Performance Update
February was a mixed bag of returns for the major asset classes, but that didn’t stop the Global Market Index (GMI) from rising again. Thanks to another strong month of gains in the global equity markets, the passive, unmanaged GMI, which holds all the major asset classes in market-value weights, posted a healthy 2.8% rise in February—it’s third monthly increase in a row.