By Tom Burnett CFA On September 22, 2021, the Federal Reserve issued its monthly policy Statement. Along with the formal Statement, the Fed released its updated set of economic projections for the next two years. While the Fed is not explicitly changing any benchmark indicators, the Statement does suggest…
By Tom Burnett CFA On September 17, 2021, FACTSET released its latest summary of the S/P 500 Index earnings picture. The report estimates that earnings in the September quarter will show growth of 27.6% over the 2020 third quarter. If achieved, that performance would be the largest quarterly year-over-year…
By Tom Burnett CFA On September 14, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Consumer Price Index data for the month of August. Prices rose by 0.3% in August, down from 0.9% in June and 0.5% in July. Over the past 12 months, the Index has risen by 5.3%, down from a rate of 5.4%...
By Tom Burnett CFA On September 10, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the Producer Price Index increase for the month of August. The Index rose 0.7% from July, above the consensus estimate of 0.6% (according to CNBC). The July increase was 1.0%, so the August number signaled a possible slowdown…
By Tom Burnett CFA According to the September 3, 2021, issue of the FACTSET earnings report, the second quarter earnings growth for the S/P 500 Index companies exceeded 90.9%, compared to the earnings for the second quarter of 2020. Last year’s second quarter formed a low base, however, as the Covid-19…