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."

Thursday, January 5, 2012

No surprise: more positive economic data overnight...

According to UBS (summary only):

* US: Weekly store sales accelerated over the course of December. The ICSC rose to 4.3% y/y, the strongest since July.

* US: Factory orders rose 1.8% m/m in Nov (UBSe & cons 2.0%), after -0.2%. Inventories rose 0.5%, slowing from 0.9% in Oct.

* UK: PMI construction rose to 53.2 from 52.3, stronger than consensus of 51.7.
at 7:43 AM