By Robert Romano At the Feb. 5 State of the Union Address President Donald Trump once again appealed to both chambers of Congress to adopt the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) reciprocal trade deal that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — or USMCA — will replace […]

By Rick Manning Washington D.C. economy watchers were holding their collective breaths waiting for the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics to release its January surveys measuring individual employment and business hiring reports and the results were somewhat predictable. A huge gain in jobs created in the […]

By Robert Romano Last month, China reported growth of its economy in 2018 at 6.6 percent , the lowest in 28 years. The slowdown is real enough but whether it results in a grand trade deal by the U.S. and China may depend on how much pain China is really feeling at the moment. Is Beijing feeling the […]

By Robert Romano The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the now-ended, month-long partial government shutdown cost the U.S. economy $3 billion of output in the fourth quarter of 2018, and $8 billion of output in the first quarter of 2019, respectively. It doesn’t matter. Of the amounts suggested, […]

By Robert Romano With a steady 1.9 percent unadjusted inflation rate for 2018 on the books, the Federal Reserve has paused interest rate hikes in its Jan. 30 meeting , and put future rate hikes in doubt with a call for “patience.” “In light of global economic and financial developments and muted inflation pressures, the Committee will be patient as it determines what future adjustments […]

By A.F. Branco Click here for a higher level resolution version.

  By Rick Manning As originally published at Investor’s Business Daily. It is official. Inflation for 2018 settled in at 1.9 percent  for the year, with just 0.8 percent of that in the final six months of the year.  Real wages for 2018 increased measured against inflation increased by $4.39 a week. This means that if inflation […]

By Rick Manning Amidst all of the focus on the partial government shutdown and the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, the fact that President Trump has now been in office for a full two years cannot be lost, and quite a two years it […]

By Robert Romano As the partial government shutdown enters day 27, the longest in U.S. history, Congressional Democrats still refuse to even discuss funding the President’s proposed southern border wall expansion. And now, some analysts are warning that if the shutdown continues, it could lead to recession. […]

By Robert Romano Good news from the trade war front. As high-level talks continue between U.S. and Chinese trade officials, on Jan. 8, President Donald Trump tweeted , “Talks with China are going very well!” Similarly, a Chinese official told the Wall Street Journal that the talks have been “constructive.” Certainly, that’s news I think everyone […]