This week’s Inside the Economy with SH&J highlights an update on the global economy. Germany appears to be a bright spot within the European Union with a budget surplus in 2015 despite global trade trending down, particularly in China. After recording a trade deficit with China for 2015, Germany is now seeking to make the United States their primary trading partner. Japan is also seeing a downturn in output and could be in recession by this summer. Listen in to hear more on the ECB’s continued quantitative easing, the flood of refugees into Germany, and comments on Emerging Market debt.
This week’s Inside the Economy with SH&J continues the discussion on oil and the challenges hindering the much anticipated boost in production from Iran. Meanwhile, Europe’s banking system is under pressure to keep its zero-interest and negative-interest rate policies in place for the foreseeable future. Listen in for commentary on the aftermath of the Brussels and Paris attacks and how it is affecting tourism and putting further pressure on the European banking system. We discuss how the first quarter is wrapping up and the outlook for the remainder of 2016.
This week’s Inside the Economy with SH&J includes explanation of how the price of oil has largely contributed to the recent S&P 500 recovery, yet earnings will likely be the primary factor influencing S&P 500 growth in the near future. The U.S. is seeing the start of a manufacturing rebound as well as the beginning signs of full employment. Inventory buildup is decreasing as consumption picks up and the labor participation rate is on the rise. Core inflation has slowly increased and appears to be sustainable, giving the Fed rationale for a rate increase this year. Listen in to hear more on these issues as well as commentary on nuclear energy worldwide and the Federal Budget.
As lack luster S&P 500 performance continues to plague media headlines, this week’s economic discussion provides reasoning around lower earnings and a high percentage of sales coming from struggling overseas economies with weak currencies. Low energy and material prices are also contributing to lower performance figures. Hear commentary about how a prolonged duration of low oil prices could cause a global sell-off of European stocks and what effect it may have on business and consumer sentiment, particularly in the U.K. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the labor market continues to improve with 5.61 million available positions, retail sales are up, banks are back in the lending business, and consumer spending and consumer sentiment are on the rise. Listen in to hear more!