Eurozone Retail Sales Fall Sharply In June
Retail sales in the eurozone fell more sharply than expected in June, a fresh sign that the currency area's economic recovery remains too weak to quickly bring down very high rates of unemployment, or raise inflation to the European Central Bank's target.
Separately, the final results of surveys of purchasing managers at businesses around the eurozone recorded a slowdown in activity during July, although it was less marked than first estimated.
The European Union's statistics agency said Wednesday retail sales in the 19 countries that use the euro fell 0.6% in June from May, but were up 1.2% from the same month last year. It was the largest month-to-month fall since September 2014. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated sales fell 0.2%, having seen figures from Germany that recorded a large drop.
Italy's industrial output falls more than expected
ROME--Italy's industrial production fell more than expected in June, as it contracted in almost all sectors, reversing the rise seen in the previous month, in a sign that the recovery from the country's worst postwar recession is still fragile.
Industrial output in the euro zone's third-largest economy fell 1.1% on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, national statistics institute Istat said Wednesday.
A more modest fall of 0.2% had been the average forecast of 11 economists polled earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
The monthly fall was led by a 1.7% monthly contraction in the production of intermediate goods, while consumer goods fell 0.8% and energy goods' output contracted 1.0% over the period, Istat said.
Italian industrial production fell 0.3% on the year in June in workday-adjusted terms, Istat said.
The OECD's figures indicate that a wave of fresh stimulus measures enacted by central banks around the world since late last year has yet to achieve its main goal--minimizing the risk of a slide into deflation. Very low inflation rates make economies vulnerable to a slide into deflation, an outcome that policy makers regard as unlikely, but highly damaging should it occur.
China Securities Finance Corp, the state margin lender tasked with stabilizing the stock market, has injected 200 billion yuan ($32.21 billion) since July into five newly-launched mutual funds, the official China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.
Negative interest rates have created excess demand for property as an investment, the Zurich-based bank said, which brings the housing market back into focus for the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
The numbers of those in temporary employment — whose numbers fell during the crisis partly because of their vulnerability — is on the rise again. In July, the Spanish unemployment roll dropped by 74,000, the best July since 1998. But of the 1.8 million labour contracts that were signed during the month, only 6.9 per cent of the contracts were for permanent positions
Indian consumer sentiment lowest since March: MNI Indicator
Japan’s monetary base stood at a record-high 325.74 trillion yen ($2.63 trillion) at the end of July, up 33.9 percent from a year earlier, as the Bank of Japan continued to provide more liquidity to raise the inflation rate to its targeted 2 percent, BOJ data showed Tuesday. The monetary base reached an all-time high for the 12th straight month. The central bank took additional monetary easing steps last October to raise the pace of supplying funds.The Oil Crash Has Caused A $1.3 Trillion Wipe-out
The California Public Employees Retirement System, a $303 billion fund that provides benefits to 1.72 million people, owned a $91.8 million slice of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. in June 2014. At the time, Pioneer was a $33 billion company and one of the biggest shale producers in Texas. Today, Pioneer is worth $19 billion and Calpers’ stake has lost about $40 million in market value.
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APPLY Tips From The Best
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Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway – He is a deeply conservative trader during the times that everyone around him is moving from one extreme to the other to the tune of huge losses and gains. Warren Buffett is a perfect example of patience, proving that slow and steady generally wins the business race. (Although I continue to press my own desire to spur Fishbowl’s inventory software business to race!)
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An Inconvenient Truth:
An Inconvenient Truth:
What Happens When Top Economists Realize Physical Growth Constraints?
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"Humanity's Coming of Age"
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