Clarksville Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of June 29th, 2015

Clarksville, TN – The week began with a renewed sense of optimism that a Greek debt deal would be worked out. Sentiment then faded after negotiations with Greece’s creditors broke down, but then hopes continued that a deal would be reached over the weekend.

The economic data were mixed. Home sales figures improved in May. Durable goods orders were disappointing. The estimate of 1Q15 GDP was revised to show a -0.2% annual rate (vs. -0.7% in the second estimate), up 3.0% from a year ago. Note that the estimate of Gross Domestic Income rose at a 1.9% annual rate (+3.7% y/y).

[Read more]

Clarksville Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of June 22nd, 2015

Clarksville, TN – In its monetary policy statement, the Federal Open Market Committee recognized that “economic activity has been expanding moderately after having changed little during the first quarter.” Labor market slack has “diminished somewhat.” Growth in consumer spending has been “moderate,” while the housing sector “has shown some improvement.”

In the revised Summary of Economic Projections, Fed officials lowered their forecasts of 2015 GDP growth, but raised slightly their expectations for growth in 2016 and 2017.

[Read more]

Clarksville Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of June 14th, 2015

Clarksville, TN – Economists began the week wondering why consumers hadn’t spent the windfall from lower gasoline prices. By the end of the week, we had a partial answer. Retail sales rose strongly in May, as expected. More importantly, we had upward revisions to the data for March and April.

The Bureau of Census also released its quarterly survey of services. These two reports paint a brighter consumer spending outlook and imply an upward revision to the estimate of 1Q15 GDP growth (the second estimate showed a -0.7% annual rate, but should be revised to show a much more modest decline or perhaps a slight increase).

[Read more]