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."

Friday, November 2, 2012

CBA: Very strong US economic data overnight

From CBA:

The ISM manufacturing report edged up from 51.5 to 51.7. The new orders balance pushed up from 52.3 to 54.2 , the production sub‑index rose from 49.5 to 52.4.

ADP employment gains totalled 158,000 in October following a 114,000 print in September. It was the strongest monthly increase in jobs since February.

The Conference Board consumer confidence reading jumped from 68.4 to 72.2 in October, a high since February 2008.

European shares clawed back the prior session’s losses on Thursday, buoyed by better corporate earnings and better economic data out of China and the US. Lloyds Banking Group rallied 8.3pct after the UK lender posted a drop in third quarter debts.

US sharemarkets rose sharply on Thursday, as upbeat economic data and consumer confidence figures gave investors a reason to buy up equities...Volume was near average with 5.5 billion shares changing hands. At the close, the Dow Jones was up 1.0pct, the S+P 500 rose by 1.1pct and the Nasdaq gained 1.4pct.
at 1:06 PM