RSS Feed
Twitter
Facebook
Email
HomeCan’t Shake That ‘Walking Pneumonia’ Economy
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 9th, 2011 7:49 AM |
Have you ever had walking pneumonia? Not a lot of fun, right?
You might be able to operate but your inability to fully inhale is a real drag. I had a bout of walking pneumonia a few years back but was fortunate to get over it in about a month. If only our ‘walking pneumonia’ economy were just that lucky.
I first described our domestic economy as sufferring from this malady in early 2010 when I wrote U.S. Economy = “Walking Pneumonia”.
Going on 15 months later we continue to languish from a variety of factors that inhibit the flow of economic oxygen critical to a real recovery. While many ‘quacks’ would like to have us believe differently, let’s navigate and listen to those who write the checks which drive the oxygen into our system and propel our economic vitality. How so? (more…)
Duke/CFO Survey: Good News and Bad News
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 4th, 2010 10:01 AM |
What can we learn from those who sign the checks at over a thousand companies around our country? Let’s review a synopsis of a recently released Duke University CFO Survey. This analysis, On the Mend, is presented by CFO Magazine:
At last, some good news. For the first time in more than a year, finance chiefs expect double-digit growth in earnings and significant growth in capital spending over the next 12 months, according to the Duke University/CFOMagazine Global Business Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2010. Finance chiefs are also loosening the reins on technology spending, research and development spending, and marketing and advertising spending.
The welcome news doesn’t come without a few troubling reservations, however. (more…)
CFO/Duke University Survey Paints Different Picture Than Federal Reserve
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 17th, 2009 9:24 AM |
A recently released survey of CFOs paints a decidedly different picture on the jobs front than that portrayed in yesterday’s Federal Reserve release. Let’s compare, contrast, and navigate the most important trail on our economic landscape.
The Federal Reserve’s statement yesterday:
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November suggests that economic activity has continued to pick up and that the deterioration in the labor market is abating. The housing sector has shown some signs of improvement over recent months. Household spending appears to be expanding at a moderate rate, though it remains constrained by a weak labor market, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment, though at a slower pace, and remain reluctant to add to payrolls;
In every report that I have read and heard, this statement has been portrayed as one in which the employment situation is improving. I am an optimist by nature, but one has to spin that statement very hard to view it as a sanguine outlook for jobs. (more…)
