Mike Bjork's (mbjork) Blog

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  The Philly Fed Index dropped from 17.6 in April to 2.6 in May.  This index measures the manufacturing around the Philadelphia area.  This has been see quite a bit this month, so we'll monitor to verify if this is becoming a trend or not.  Initial Jobless Claims...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  Housing Starts dropped by 0.2% in April, as March data was revised lower (from 1.793 million seasonally adjusted units to 1.728 million).  April's data reported at 1.724 million.  Likewise, Building Permits dropped 3.2% in April.  However, it's March data was r...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  Retail Sales rose 0.9% in April, after a sharp higher revision to March (from 0.5% to 1.4%).  This, on the surface looks very good, but Rick Santelli made a great point about this data.  The point is related to the data not being adjusted for inflation.  The re...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  Manufacturing in the NY region contracted in April, as the Empire State Index reported that it declined 11.6 on it's index on forecasts of +17.00.  The week ahead has Retail Sales (which may coincide with many Corporate Earnings releases for some of the largest...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  The Consumer Sentiment dropped fairly significantly in May, as it went from 65.2 in April to 59.1 in May.  This is an important index to gauge, as Consumer behavior affects whether the economy will weaken or strengthen; and if they're not feeling it, then it co...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  The Initial Jobless Claims rose slightly from last week to 203k.  This is people applying for first time benefits.  The good news is that Continuing Claims has continued to decline.  The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures Wholesale Inflation, rose only ...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  The Consumer Priced Index (CPI) rose 0.3% in April while it's YoY dropped from 8.5% to 8.3%, missing expectations of 8.1%.  The Core CPI (excludes food and energy) rose 0.6% while it's YoY dropped from 6.5% to 6.2%, also missing it's forecasts of 6.0%.  One of ...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  There are no economic data to report today.  The Markets are preparing themselves for tomorrow when the CPI is released.  This will have the biggest impact this week, as Investors are looking for confirmation that inflation has peaked.  Stocks have been selling...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  Wholesale Inventories maintained their pace with 2.3% increase for March.  There's not a lot of Economic Data to be released this week, so most focus will be on the upcoming inflation data by CPI and PPI.  Investors will be looking for possible acknowledgement ...

http://MikesDailyMarketReport.com:  Average Earnings rose only 0.3%, coming in under forecasts.  Hopefully, this is an indicator that wage inflation is stabilizing.  Non-Farm Payrolls reported 428k new jobs for April, beating expectations!  However, the Unemployment remained unchanged at 3.6%; li...