This publication is e-mailed every Sunday.  It reviews the previous week's statistical reports, policy statements and other relevant events in the context of:

  1)  how they influence decision makers in  Washington;
  2)  whether they have been interpreted correctly by
       financial markets; and
  3)  how they impact the economic outlook.

Foreign economic developments likely to influence the US economy or policymakers are also discussed.

These documents are published about 12 times a year and cover a wide range of topics which have a longer term impact on financial markets.  Past topics have included:  The Bernanke Bias, Dissecting the Labor Cost Data, Cautiously Optimistic on Inflation, Consumer Spending - How Big a Slowdown?, 2006 Housing Correction - a Drama in Three Acts, Five Reasons for Fed Foot Dragging.

This is a quarterly publication which reviews major areas of economic activity and presents the forecast in a quick read format with brief commentary. We select charts for each publication from our actively monitored library of over 850 economic indicators.

From mid February until late May the Federal Government returns several hundred billion dollars in tax refunds.  We monitor these refunds and publish a brief report every two weeks with a status update.  When refunds are surprisingly large or small, this influences consumer spending.  Because tax data are a tabulation rather than an estimate, monitoring this data routinely provides insight into how well estimated data are tracking actual economic developments.

We often see statistics being used in ways that misrepresent or misinterpret economic data. When these errors affect investment decisions, they need to be exposed. Our objective is to help our clients avoid these errors.