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."

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

HSBC: PMI today " point to sharpest **expansion** of activity since Oct 2011"

Oopps, this is not good news for those bears predicting a hard-landing in China. The HSBC Chinese PMI rose from 54.1 to 54.7 in May. HSBC comment:

"May data signalled another month of business activity growth in China. This was signalled by the HSBC Composite Output Index posting a plus-50 reading for the second month in a row (51.9 compared to 51.4 in April). Although only modest, the rate of expansion in business activity was the sharpest in seven months...Growth of services activity picked up again in May,thanks to a sustained gain in new business. This should reduce the fears of a sharp growth slowdown. Going forward, the expected fast delivery of a mix of supportive measures should filter through to further boost services output and employment.”
at 2:06 PM