The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6 percent growth rate during the final three months of 2018 on the back of a 2.8 percent increase in personal consumption bolstered by a blowout 5.9 percent rise in purchases of durables and an unsustainable buildup in inventories, in addition to a 13.1 … … READ MORE >
Economics
What does the yield curve tell us about the economy?
Does a flattening yield curve signal an impending recession? Read the February edition of The Real Economy. … READ MORE >
Powell’s Humphrey-Hawkins testimony doesn’t deviate from Jan. statement
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed his policy outlook for the United States on Tuesday, which implies a slower pace of growth linked to increasing headwinds related to policy and global economic issues. … READ MORE >
What to watch in uncertain times–Joe Brusuelas talks with ACG Global
What do the slowing economy and the ongoing trade dispute with China mean for middle market companies in the U.S.? RSM US Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas recently sat down with Kathryn Mulligan of ACG Global’s Middle Market Growth magazine for a podcast that looks at these issues, along with economic … … READ MORE >
Is the economy headed for recession?
A confluence of factors is conspiring to lay the groundwork for conditions increasingly threatening an end to the current business cycle. … READ MORE >
FOMC minutes: setting up for a change in forecast, balance sheet and policy direction
The January minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee clearly indicated increasing concern about turmoil in financial markets and global trade tensions between the United States and its trading partners. The Fed hinted at a slower pace of growth due to asset volatility and the international economy. Trade tensions and … … READ MORE >
Strategic retreat at the FOMC: Patience as policy
Today the FOMC obtained an unusual objective: It completely walked back a policy narrative implemented in December without meaningfully changing its domestic economic outlook, all while signaling no interest rate increases in the near term. This is a rare strategic retreat by the central bank, clearly driven by doves on … … READ MORE >
Middle market companies yet to embrace hedging, despite mounting costs
Subtitle
Despite mounting cost pressures on their supply chains, just a fraction of middle market companies appear to be hedging commodity prices for the longer term, recent RSM research shows. Nearly 70 percent of executives surveyed in the proprietary RSM US Middle Market Business Index survey said they paid more for goods … … READ MORE >