The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

More positive data from the world's biggest economy overnight...

UBS reports:

* US: Consumer credit rose $19.3bn in Dec, stronger than $7bn expected, after +20.4bn in Nov - the largest back-to-back gain since 2001, led by non-revolving credit.

* US: Weekly store sales strengthened at start of Feb - the ICSC rose 1.2% m/m after -3.3% in Jan. The Redbook also rose 1.2% m/m (2.5% y/y).

* US: Bernanke's senate testimony was identical to last week's testimony to Congress (prior to Friday's strong payrolls).

* US: The job openings rate (from the JOLTS survey) edged up 2.5% in Dec from 2.3% in Nov.
at 7:36 AM