Click the below link for snippets about retail sales, inflation, economic growth, Brazilian oil and yet another pro-business, anti-Democrat plaintiffs' lawyer court decision.
Retail Sales
Retail sales in March grew above Wall St. expectations and substantially above February's growth rate (which itself was revised upward).
Inflation
Consumer inflation in March was at an annualized rate of 3.6%. That followed a flat reading (zero inflation) in February.
Perspective:
3.98% - year-over-year inflation - March 2008
6.55% - year-over-year inflation - March 1978
Economic Growth
According to the Fed's "Beige Book" it appears the economy might have eeked out another small gain over the past 6 weeks. Six of 12 Districts reported muted growth; three of 12 reported flat conditions; three reported what could have been declines.
Overall growth has slowed. On the other hand inflation has reigned itself in somewhat. So, ergo, it'll be interesting to see if the economy actually declined in Q1 in terms of real GDP. Don't be shocked if it didn't.
Glug, Glug, Glug
New Brazilian Oil Field Could Be Huge Find,
area could contain as much as 33B barrels
* * *
Ah, Brazil. The beaches. The oil. What more could you want from a potential military conquest?
Business Law
Courtesy of the AP:
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected class-action certification for a lawsuit claiming The Coca-Cola Co. misled consumers about the sweeteners used in some Diet Coke products.A Jackson County judge had approved the lawsuit as a class action in February 2006. But the state's highest court unanimously threw out that decision.
Similar class-action claims against Diet Coke already have been denied in California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Massachusetts, said Ray Crockett, a spokesman for The Coca-Cola Co.
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Comments (5)
Um, that would be "eked out... (Below threshold)1. Posted by BlogDog | April 16, 2008 8:56 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Um, that would be "eked out" not "eeked out."
Yes, I'm full of annoying pedantry.
1. Posted by BlogDog | April 16, 2008 8:56 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 16, 2008 20:56
2. Posted by COgirl | April 16, 2008 10:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
As I watched the Dow climbing over 200 points today, I noticed one of the AP headlines was about how badly the economy was doing. Seemed like Democratic talking points to me in the fairyland that is the MSM. They are just determined to talk down the economy, aren't they?
2. Posted by COgirl | April 16, 2008 10:16 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 16, 2008 22:16
3. Posted by Jim Addison | April 17, 2008 12:34 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
The MSM was consistently talking down the economy while it was growing strongly without inflation and creating jobs, so any actual signs of a slowdown have to be portrayed as at least a recession, else they look like idiots (and they want to keep the truth hidden if possible).
Were we to slip into a genuine recession, with two or more quarters of NEGATIVE growth, it would have to be billed as "The Great Depression II: Bush's Hooverville!"
3. Posted by Jim Addison | April 17, 2008 12:34 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on April 17, 2008 00:34
4. Posted by John F Not Kerry | April 17, 2008 9:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Damn, somebody beat me to ... Hooverville!
4. Posted by John F Not Kerry | April 17, 2008 9:19 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 17, 2008 09:19
5. Posted by SPQR | April 17, 2008 3:59 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Interestingly, IBM announced that its prediction of 2008 fiscal year profit is increasing.
It is still hard to figure out exactly how the credit crunch is going to affect our economic prospects. Really only one thing is clear, the rhetoric of Obama and Clinton will not match the economic reality.
5. Posted by SPQR | April 17, 2008 3:59 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 17, 2008 15:59