Note: this is not seasonally adjusted. There is a very distinct seasonal pattern for imports, but not for exports. Sometimes port traffic gives us an early hint of changes in the trade deficit. The following graph shows the loaded inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and ... Read more

Here is a live video of Bernanke at the Economic Club of NY Here is the CNBC feed. Prepared Speech: On the Outlook for the Economy and Policy How the economy will evolve in 2010 and beyond is less certain. On the one hand, those who see further weakness or even a relapse into recession next ... Read more

The Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales report from the Census Bureau today showed inventories are still declining. The Census Bureau reported: Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1, ... Read more

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 1.4% from September to October (seasonally adjusted), and sales are off 1.7% from October 2008. Excluding auto sales and parts, retail sales rose 0.2% in October. The increase in October was mostly a rebound from the decline in September. Click o ... Read more

From Reuters: Stronger Yuan Needed for Global Rebalancing: IMF Chief IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said ... [China needs to increase emphasis on domestic demand], especially private consumption ... "A stronger currency is part of the package of necessary reforms," he said. "Allowi ... Read more

On Friday I posted a graph showing the historical relationship between housing starts and the unemployment rate (repeated as the 2nd graph below). The graph shows that housing leads the economy both into and out of recessions, and the unemployment rate lags housing by about 12 to 18 months. It a ... Read more

"There’s no hard and fast number, but ... I have in mind something like $300 Billion, you could do quite a lot that’s actually targeted on jobs." Professor Paul Krugman, Nov 12, 2009 In the following interview, with Alison van Diggelen of Fresh Dialogues, Paul Krugman offers some suggestions ... Read more

This will be a busy week for key economic news starting with October Retail sales on Monday, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization on Tuesday, and Housing Starts and CPI on Wednesday. Also on Monday, at noon ET, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at the Economic Club of New York. ... Read more

From Bloomberg: China’s Liu Says U.S. Rates Cause Dollar Speculation “The continuous depreciation in the dollar, and the U.S. government’s indication, that in order to resume growth and maintain public confidence, it basically won’t raise interest rates for the coming 12 to 18 months, has ... Read more

In his comments with the Unofficial Problem Bank list , surferdude808 noted that the Federal Reserve issued a Prompt Corrective Action order against Orion Bank on Thursday. Orion was seized the following day by the FDIC. The PCA order makes for interesting reading (Note: Stephen at FUMU Financ ... Read more