RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas gives an update on the outlook for middle market companies following the UK’s planned departure from the European Union. … READ MORE >
Blog
Biotech needs cash in hesitant market
Life science companies require a cash infusion at least twice as big as that of 2018 to fund research and development at a time when investors remain skittish, according to a Bloomberg analysis. … READ MORE >
US employment report preview: modest rebound as risks to outlook rise
We expect this Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report to show 155,000 jobs were added in March with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.8 percent. Slowing economic activity during the first quarter places downside risk on our top-line employment growth forecast. … READ MORE >
U.S. February retail sales point to weak Q1 household spending
Soft top-line and underlying core retail sales in February point to persistent weak household spending in the first quarter of the year. … READ MORE >
RSM Brexit Stress Index awaits parliament’s next move as EU mulls ‘Brextra Time’
The RSM Brexit Stress index remained essentially unchanged falling from .74 standard deviations above neutral to .72 for the week ending March 29. The primary catalysts for the relatively unchanged score were narrowing corporate bond spreads, lower volatility of British Sterling in foreign exchange markets and improvement in the FTSE … … READ MORE >
RSM US Middle Market Business Index tumbles in Q1–Joe Brusuelas decodes the drop
Joe Brusuelas explains what’s behind the drop in the first quarter RSM US Middle Market Business Index and how middle market businesses can prepare for an uncertain economic outlook. … READ MORE >
Cyberthreats for middle market companies are increasing–RSM MMBI Survey
Unauthorized users will attempt to access proprietary data at more than half of the middle market businesses polled by the proprietary RSM US Middle Market Business Index survey in the first quarter—up significantly from 47 percent in 2018—illustrating that companies continue to battle the moving target of cyberthreats afflicting organizations of all sizes. … READ MORE >
Yield curve inverts, though recession not yet in sight
Last week the policy-sensitive U.S. 10-year—three-month Treasury spread inverted, meaning yields on the short-term three-month Treasury bill were higher than yields on the 10-year Treasury note (Figure 1). The brief inversion implied that investors were willing to pay more for three-month short-term Treasury bills against the risk of holding depreciating … … READ MORE >
RSM Brexit Stress Index rises on uncertain policy path of May government
The RSM Brexit Stress Index increased to 0.71 standard deviations above neutral from 0.55 one week ago, amid continued uncertainty regarding timing of Britain’s departure from the European Union. … READ MORE >
The March edition of The Real Economy is out now
In the March issue of The Real Economy, we assess the impact of Brexit on the UK economy with our new RSM Brexit Stress Index. In addition, we provide a first glimpse of new data from the upcoming RSM US Middle Market Business Index survey on cybersecurity, and our monthly outlook for real GDP. … READ MORE >