Category Archives: Economics

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, November 11, 2020: 

Two of the nation’s largest banks — Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan — are increasingly bullish on America. Goldman Sachs’ chief U.S. equity strategist, David Kostin, in a note to his clients, said on Wednesday that the S&P500 Index, currently trading at 3,575, could hit 4,300 by 2022, a little over a year from now.  If he’s correct, Wall Street investors could see their accounts jump by 20 percent by next Christmas.

His optimism stems from the news that

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, November 2, 2020: 

The report released Monday morning by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) once again exceeded forecasters’ expectations, and added to the momentum of the Trump reelection campaign. That campaign has touted the V-shaped rebound from the COVID shutdown for months, and today’s report confirms it.

The ISM’s index of purchasing managers (PMI) reflects their optimism in the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, and any number above 50 reflects expansion. Forecasters had expected a reading of 55.7. ISM reported it rising to 59.3, nearly four full points in just the last month. It’s also the highest reading since September 2018 when the economy was already in full throat.

The index not only reflects how purchasing managers are viewing the economy at the moment, it’s also a harbinger for the expansion continuing well into the new year, according to Timothy Fiore, head of the survey. “This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the sixth month in a row,” Fiore said, adding:

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, October 26, 2020:  

The latest survey of consumers from the University of Michigan — its “Preliminary Results for October 2020” — just released showed “gains in economic prospects for the year ahead,” according to its authors. And that’s just the beginning of the reports issued last week and those coming this final full week before election day.

In September its Index of Consumer Sentiment was 80.4; a month later it is 81.2. Its Index of Consumer Expectations for September was 75.6; for October it’s 78.8. When the results are broken down by political party, “Trump still held an advantage over Biden,” the same advantage he held in September, according to the UMich survey.

The “flash” (preliminary) output, services, and manufacturing indices from the data firm IHS Markit on Friday each showed 20-month highs, with its author reporting:

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, October 15, 2020:

Back in May, Kevin Hassett, former chairman of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors, noted that so-called Red states — those governed by largely Republicans — were opening sooner than Blue states — those governed largely by Democrats — and suggested it was something that should be studied.

JustTheNews (JTN) completed just such a study. By analyzing the latest (August) data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Carrie Sheffield, JTN’s investigative journalist, saw clearly the difference in approach to opening up the states. She noted that

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, October 9, 2020:

The latest report from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s GDPNow model was raised on Tuesday from 34.6 percent to 35.3 percent.

These are blowout numbers not seen in history and obliterate the old record set 70 years ago during the Truman administration.

This estimate will be confirmed when

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, October 1, 2020:  

The day after debating Joe Biden in his bid for another four years in the White House, President Trump declared a national emergency. It concerns the virtual monopoly the communists running China have gained over an obscure but vitally necessary group of 17 minerals called “rare earth elements,” or REEs. They are used to build a wide range of products, both consumer and military.

There is no known substitute for them, and China controls most of their production.

In his Executive Order, the president said,

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, September 16, 2020:

In a note to his clients on Monday, LPL’s Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick said his company has raised its stock market expectations even higher, advising its clients to stay fully invested and enjoy the ride.

He said, “When the S&P 500 [index] has been up five straight months, as it was in April through August, stocks have historically kept going higher.” Historically, he told his clients, the last 26 times the market traded higher for five straight months, it was higher a year later 96 percent of the time.

Furthermore,

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, September 14, 2020: 

In a note to its clients on Thursday, international investment banking firm Goldman Sachs said it “upgraded” its estimate of the robust rebound of the U.S. economy for the third quarter, adding that the momentum will continue into the fourth quarter and 2021 as well:

We upgraded our near-term growth forecasts based on the much stronger-than-expected August jobs report and the solid summer data more generally….

 

Our forecast of 35 percent is now nearly 14 percentage points above [Wall Street’s] consensus….

 

Looking beyond this quarter, we remain upbeat on growth.… In our view, the combination of a still-very-high personal savings rate, and a likely vaccine, should lead to reaccelerating demand in these sectors.

Others are getting on board. Marko Kolanovic, a quantitative strategist at J.P. Morgan Chase told his clients two weeks ago: “We currently believe that momentum in favor of Trump will continue, while most investors are still positioned for a Biden win.” Accordingly he told his clients to “adjust [their portfolios] for a potential Trump re-election.”

The day after Goldman Sachs issued its upgrade Beacon Policy Advisors analyst Ben Koltun confirmed, explaining why: