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Global Economics Report
May 16, 2017
Where We Are Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Indicators for US Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
US Economic Heartbeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Global Financial Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
US Key Interest Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
US Inflation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Exchange Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
US Banking Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
US Employment Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
US Business Activity Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
S&P 500 Sentiment Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
US Consumption Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
US Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Global Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Global Trade/Export Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Canadian Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
European Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chinese Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Global Climate Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Where We Are Now
This month is officially the “it gets better” edition. Economic data
has been perking up since the end of the election last year and it seems
clear that overall, things are continuing to improve.
But what seems to have changed the most is sentiment – this is the
expectation that things are getting better in the future. Whether it
is broad global surveys like the PMI, US Consumer sentiment surveys
or even the sentiment analysis this report does on S&P 500 conference
calls, the direction is up up up.
There are some warning signs like net operating profit margins –
they are already above historical averages and are more likely to de-
cline. Part is due to accounting changes, but this isn’t about rising
earnings which in a large part are due to share buybacks. This is op-
erating margins which are not impacted by share counts.
There is the looming interest rate increases which will eventually
have an effect – if it is more expensive to borrow, that is a drag. But
again, the thing I watch the most is credit deterioration. The uptick in
chargebacks is real and an indication that something is breaking down.
Formatting Notes The grey bars on the various charts are OECD
recession indicators for the respective countries.
Subscription Info For a FREE subscription to this monthly re-
port, please visit sign up at our website: www.lairdresearch.com
Laird Research, May 16, 2017
Indicators for US Economy
Leading indicators are indicators that usually change before the
economy as a whole changes. They are useful as short-term predictors
of the economy. Our list includes the Philly Fed’s Leading Index which
summarizes multiple indicators; initial jobless claims and hours worked
(both decrease quickly when demand for employee services drops and
vice versa); purchasing manager indicies; trucking indices showing de-
mand for transport; new order and housing permit indicies and con-
sumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about their own financial
situation and the economy in general). Red dots are points where a
new trend has started.
Leading Index for the US
Index:Est.6monthgrowth
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−2−10123
median: 1.53
Mar 2017: 1.66
Growth
Contraction
Initial Unemployment Claims
1000'sofClaimsperWeek
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
200300400500600
median: 346.50
May 2017: 243.50
Manufacturing Ave. Weekly Hours Worked
HoursworkedperWeek
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
394041424344
median: 40.60
Apr 2017: 41.80
Manfacturing − PMI
Index:SteadyState=50
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
3040506070
median: 52.75
Apr 2017: 52.80expanding economy
contracting economy
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 2
Leading indicators are indicators that usually change before the
economy as a whole changes. They are useful as short-term predictors
of the economy. Our list includes the Philly Fed’s Leading Index which
summarizes multiple indicators; initial jobless claims and hours worked
(both decrease quickly when demand for employee services drops and
vice versa); purchasing manager indicies; trucking indices showing de-
mand for transport; new order and housing permit indicies and con-
sumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about their own financial
situation and the economy in general). Red dots are points where a
new trend has started.
Durable Goods: Manufacturers New Orders
BillionsofDollars
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
150200250
median: 186.51
Mar 2017: 239.44
Index of Truck Tonnage
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
100110120130140
median: 113.50
Mar 2017: 137.40
Capex (ex. Defense & Planes)
BillionsofDollars
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
40506070
median: 58.58
Mar 2017: 65.17
U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment
Index1966Q1=100
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
5060708090100110
median: 89.10
Apr 2017: 97.00
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 3
US Economic Heartbeat
MarketHack Inc. is proud to present our proprietary Economic
Heartbeat index. It uses monthly economic data from 1960 onwards
to create a diffusion index. Each point represents the index value for
a given month. Months with a recession are represented by red dots,
otherwise they are blue.
The green line is selected to maximize the probability that dots
above the line indicate a recession – especially as it crosses the line.
Our current month is shown in Purple at the far right of the series.
The index is based on such as: incomes, employment, industrial pro-
duction, prices, housing, orders and inventories and credit/monetary
policy.
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Good Times
Danger Zone
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
Recession
Recovery
YOU
ARE
HERE
Recession months
Non−recession months
Current month (Feb 2017)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 4
Global Financial Markets
Global Stock Market Returns
Country Index Name Close Date Current
Value
Weekly
Change
Monthly
Change
3 month
Change
12
month
Change
Corr to
S&P500
Corr to
TSX
North America
USA S&P 500 May 12 2,390.9 -0.3% J 2.0% I 2.7% I 15.8% I 1.00 0.62
USA NASDAQ Composite May 12 6,121.2 0.3% I 4.9% I 6.2% I 29.2% I 0.91 0.54
USA Wilshire 5000 Total Market May 12 24,855.9 -0.5% J 1.8% I 2.0% I 16.6% I 0.96 0.62
Canada S&P TSX May 12 15,537.9 -0.3% J -0.7% J -1.4% J 12.7% I 0.62 1.00
Europe and Russia
France CAC 40 May 12 5,405.4 -0.5% J 6.0% I 10.6% I 25.9% I 0.59 0.41
Germany DAX May 12 12,770.4 0.4% I 5.1% I 8.5% I 29.5% I 0.57 0.42
Russia Market Vectors Russia ETF May 12 20.5 0.7% I 2.4% I -5.7% J 20.4% I 0.45 0.49
Asia
Taiwan TSEC weighted index May 12 9,986.8 0.9% I 1.7% I 2.8% I 23.2% I -0.13 -0.08
China Shanghai Composite Index May 15 3,090.2 0.4% I -3.3% J -3.8% J 8.4% I 0.02 0.03
Japan NIKKEI 225 May 12 19,883.9 -0.1% J 7.2% I 2.2% I 19.4% I 0.30 0.28
Hong Kong Hang Seng May 12 25,156.3 2.8% I 3.5% I 6.1% I 26.3% I -0.05 -0.08
Korea Kospi May 12 2,286.0 -0.3% J 7.4% I 10.0% I 15.6% I 0.01 -0.06
South Asia and Austrailia
India Bombay Stock Exchange May 12 30,188.2 1.1% I 1.8% I 6.5% I 17.1% I 0.19 0.04
Indonesia Jakarta May 12 5,675.2 -0.1% J 0.6% I 4.9% I 18.2% I -0.14 -0.01
Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI May 12 1,775.9 0.7% I 1.8% I 3.8% I 7.7% I -0.02 0.16
Australia All Ordinaries May 12 5,870.9 0.1% I -1.6% J 1.0% I 8.3% I 0.09 0.20
New Zealand NZX 50 Index Gross May 12 7,452.4 1.2% I 2.8% I 4.4% I 7.6% I 0.06 0.11
South America
Brasil IBOVESPA May 12 68,222.0 3.8% I 6.8% I 1.9% I 28.1% I 0.46 0.58
Argentina MERVAL Buenos Aires May 12 21,502.4 1.6% I 3.3% I 10.2% I 60.8% I 0.26 0.46
Mexico Bolsa index May 12 49,426.1 -0.1% J 1.0% I 3.7% I 8.2% I 0.35 0.47
MENA and Africa
Egypt Market Vectors Egypt ETF May 12 28.1 2.9% I -0.7% J 1.7% I -25.3% J 0.06 0.18
(Gulf States) Market Vectors Gulf States ETF Oct 07 23.0 3.2% I 1.2% I 6.4% I -6.4% J 0.16 0.05
South Africa iShares MSCI South Africa Index May 12 59.2 2.3% I 4.1% I 5.9% I 22.9% I 0.40 0.47
(Africa) Market Vectors Africa ETF May 12 21.2 2.6% I 0.2% I -2.1% J 7.1% I 0.22 0.34
Commodities
USD Spot Oil West Texas Int. May 08 $46.5 -4.9% J -12.4% J -11.3% J 6.9% I 0.18 0.38
USD Gold LME Spot May 15 $1,231.5 0.1% I -4.2% J 0.5% I -3.9% J -0.28 -0.14
Note: Correlations are based on daily arithmetic returns for the most recent 100 trading days.
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 5
S&P 500 Composite Index
The S&P 500 Composite Index is widely regarded as the best single
gauge of the large cap U.S. equities market. A key figure is the valua-
tion level of the S&P500 as measured by the Price/Earnings ratio. We
present two versions: (1) a 12-month trailing earnings version which
reflects current earnings but is skewed by short term variances and (2)
a cyclically adjusted version which looks at the inflation adjusted earn-
ings over a 10 year period (i.e. at least one business cycle). Forecasted
earnings numbers are estimates provided by S&P.
S&P 500 Profit Margins and Overall Corporate Profit Margins (Trailing 12 months)
Percent
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Percent
Total Corporate Profits (% of GDP) − median: 6.2%, Q4/16: 9.2%
Net Profit Margin (S&P 500 Earnings / Revenue) − median: 6.7%, Q4/16: 8.2%
S&P Quarterly Earnings (USD$ Inflation Adjusted to current prices)
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Estimates
−5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
45.00
−5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
45.00
Tech Bubble
Japanese Asset Bubble
House BubbleAsian Financial Crisis
US Financial Crisis
Eurozone crisis
Oil Crisis I Oil Crisis II
Gulf War
Savings and Loans Crisis
High Inflation Period
Afganistan/Iraq WarVietnam War
Reported Earnings
Operating Earnings
Trailing P/E Ratios for S&P500
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
0
10
20
30
40
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
Multiple
Multiple
12−month trailing P/E ( median = 17.5, May = 23.0)
10−year CAPE ( median = 19.7, May = 28.9)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 6
S&P 500 Composite Distributions
This is a view of the price performance of the S&P 500 companies.
The area of each box is proportional to the market cap, while the colour
is determined by the percentage change in value over the past month.
Companies are sorted according to their industry group.
AAPL
+9.1%
GOOG
+11%
MSFT
+4.3%
FB
+5.7%
V
+3.8%
ORCL
+1.5%
CSCO
+0.48%
INTC
−1%
IBM
−13%
MA
+4.6%
AVGO
QCOM
TXN
+1%
NVDA
ACN NFLX
ADBE CRM
ADP
ATVI
CTSH
EBAY
EA
HPQ
INTU
MU
HPE
FIS TEL
GLW ADI
APH
CA
IT
WU
BRK−B
−2.1%
JPM
−0.11%
WFC
−3.8%
BAC
+1.7%
C
+2.6% GS
−2.7%
USB
−0.27%
MS
+0.5%
AXP
CB
BLK
PNC
AIG
MET
BK PRU
CME COF
MMC
BBT
TRV AON
STT
ALL
AFL
BEN
DFS
SYF KEY
RF
L
IVZ
AJG
JNJ
−0.84%
PFE
−2.7%
MRK
+0.16%
UNH
+3.8%
AMGN
−2.2%
MDT
+2.9%
ABBV
CELG BMY GILD
LLY AGN
ABT
TMO DHR
BIIB
SYK
ANTM
AET
REGN
CI BDX
BSX
BAX
EW
CAH
BCR
MYL
ABC
A
LH WAT
CNC
DVA
AMZN
+7.8%
HD
+7%
CMCSA
+3.8%
DIS
−3.1%
MCD
+12%
NKE PCLN
SBUX
CHTR
−1.9%
TWX
LOW
FOX
GM
TJX
CCL F
MAR TGT
DISH
NWL
ROST
YUM
RCL
VFC
DG AZO
DLTR
ULTA
MHK
LB
TIF
DRI
M RL
WMT
+6.1%
PG
−3.2%
KO
+2.8%
PM
−1.1%
PEP
MO
−1.4%
KHC
−2.3%
RAI
+4.2%
WBA
+2.8%
CVS
COST
+7%
MDLZ
+4.2%
CL
KMB
STZ
EL
GIS
SYY
MNST
KR
K
ADM
HSY
TSN TAP
GE
−5.4%
MMM
BA
+4.5%
HON
+5.8%
UTX
+8%
UPS
UNP
LMT CAT
GD FDX
CSX ITW RTN
NOC JCI
DE
DAL
LUV
ETN
WM
CMI
UAL
IR RSG
PH
ROK
AYI
XOM
+1.5%
CVX
−1.7%
SLB
−8.6%
COP
EOG
OXY
KMI
PSX
HAL
BHI APA
FTI
NBL
NOV
NEE
DUK
SO
D
PCG AEP
PPL EIX
ED XEL
ES
AMT SPG
PSA
CCI
EQIX
PLD
HCN
WY
VTR
O
DOW DD
PX ECL LYB
PPG
IP
BLL
T
−6.3%
VZ
−5.7%
LVLT CTL
Information Technology Financials
Health Care
Consumer
Discretionary
Consumer
Staples
Industrials
Energy Utilities
Real Estate
Materials
Telecommunication
Services
<−25.0% −20.0% −15.0% −10.0% −5.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% >25.0%
% Change in Price from Apr 3, 2017 to May 12, 2017
Average Median Median Median
Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E
Information Technology 5.7% I 3.6 5.5 25.9
Consumer Discretionary 2.8% I 1.6 3.6 18.7
Industrials 2.1% I 1.7 4.3 22.6
Health Care 1.5% I 3.6 3.9 28.6
Consumer Staples 1.4% I 2.6 5.0 25.2
Materials 1.1% I 1.9 3.9 26.8
Average Median Median Median
Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E
Utilities 1.0% I 2.2 2.1 20.5
Financials -0.4% J 2.8 1.5 16.3
Real Estate -0.6% J 8.6 2.6 31.2
Energy -2.5% J 2.9 2.0 30.4
Telecommunication Services -5.3% J 1.5 1.9 21.5
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 7
US Equity Valuations
A key valuation metric is Tobin’s q: the ratio between the market
value of the entire US stock market versus US net assets at replacement
cost (ie. what you pay versus what you get). Warren Buffet famously
follows stock market value as a percentage of GNP, which is highly
(93%) correlated to Tobin’s q.
We can also take the reverse approach: assume the market has
valuations correct, we can determine the required returns of future es-
timated earnings. These are quoted for both debt (using BBB rated
securities as a proxy) and equity premiums above the risk free rate (10
year US Treasuries). These figures are alternate approaches to under-
standing the current market sentiment - higher premiums indicate a
demand for greater returns for the same price and show the level of
risk-aversion in the market.
Tobin's q (Market Equity / Market Net Worth) and S&P500 Price/Sales
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
Buying assets at a discount
Paying up for growth
Tobin Q (median = 0.77, Dec = 1.00)
S&P 500 Price/Sales (median = 1.37, Dec = 1.95)
Equity and Debt Risk Premiums: Spread vs. Risk Free Rate (10−year US Treasury)
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
Implied Equity Premium (median = 4.1%, May = 4.4%)
Debt (BBB) Premium (median = 1.6%, May = 1.3%)
Debt (BAA) Premium
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 8
US Mutual Fund Flows
Fund flows describe the net investments in equity and bond mutual
funds as well as ETF’s in the US market, as described in ICI’s “Trends
in Mutual Fund Investing” report. Previously we just looked at mutual
fund flows, but with the global trend to ETF’s, this only presented a
partial picture.
US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds & ETFs
US$billions(monthly)
2014 2015 2016 2017
−40−2002040
Domestic Equity
World Equity
Taxable Bonds
Municipal Bonds
US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds & ETFs
US$billions(Monthly)
2014 2015 2016 2017
−60−40−200204060
Flows to Equity
Flows to Bonds
Net Market Flows
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 9
US Key Interest Rates
Interest rates are often leading indicators of stress in the financial
system. The yield curve show the time structure of interest rates on
government bonds - Usually the longer the time the loan is outstanding,
the higher the rate charged. However if a recession is expected, then
the fed cuts rates and this relationship is inverted - leading to negative
spreads where short term rates are higher than long term rates.
Almost every recession in the past century has been preceeded by an
inversion - though not every inversion preceeds a recession (just most
of the time).
For corporate bonds, the key issue is the spread between bond rates
(i.e. AAA vs BBB bonds) or between government loans (LIBOR vs
Fedfunds - the infamous “TED Spread”). Here a spike correlates to an
aversion to risk, which is an indication that something bad is happen-
ing.
US Treasury Yield Curves
ForwardInstantaneousRates(%)
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5May 12, 2017 (Today)
Apr 12, 2017 (1 mo ago)
Feb 13, 2017 (3 mo ago)
12 May 2016 (1 yr ago)
3 Month & 10 Yr Treasury Yields
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%10 Yr Treasury
3 Mo Treasury
Spread
AAA vs. BBB Bond Spreads
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
Percent
AAA
BBB
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
median: 112.00
May 2017: 62.00
0
100
200
300
400
0
100
200
300
400
Spread(bps)
LIBOR vs. Fedfunds Rate
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
Percent
3 mos t−bill
LIBOR
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
median: 36.62
May 2017: 30.46
0
100
200
300
0
100
200
300
Spread(bps)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 10
US Inflation
Generally, the US Fed tries to anchor long run inflation expectations
to approximately 2%. Inflation can be measured with the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) or the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)
index.
In both cases, it makes sense to exclude items that vary quickly like
Food and Energy to get a clearer picture of inflation (usually called
Core Inflation). The Fed seems to think PCI more accurately reflects
the entire basket of goods and services that households purchase.
Finally, we can make a reasonable estimate of future inflation ex-
pectations by comparing real return and normal bonds to construct an
imputed forward inflation expectation. The 5y5y chart shows expected
5 year inflation rates at a point 5 years in the future. Neat trick that.
Consumer Price Index
Percent
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
−1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
−1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
US Inflation Rate YoY% (Aug = 1.1%)
US Inflation ex Food & Energy YoY% (Aug = 2.3%)
Personal Consumption Expenditures
Percent(YearoverYear)
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−10123456
PCE Inflation Rate YoY% (Aug = 0.96%)
PCE Core Inflation YoY% (Aug = 1.7%)
5−Year, 5−Year Forward Inflation Expectation Rate
Percent
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
−10123456
5 year forward Inflation Expectation
Actual 5yr Inflation (CPI measure)
Actual 5yr Inflation (PCE Measure)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 11
Exchange Rates
10 Week Moving Average CAD Exchange Rates
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0.620.710.810.901.001.09
USA/CAD
0.550.610.660.720.770.82
Euro/CAD
59.1674.7190.26105.81121.36136.91
Japan/CAD
0.380.440.490.550.610.67
U.K./CAD
0.591.101.602.112.613.12
Brazil/CAD
CAD Appreciating
CAD Depreciating
Change in F/X: Aug 1 2016 to Sep 30 2016
(Trade Weighted Currency Index of USD Trading Partners)
−3.0%
−1.5%
1.5%
3.0%
Euro
−0.7%
UK
1.3%
Japan
−1.2%
South Korea
−0.9%
China
0.2%
India
−0.3%
Brazil
−0.8%
Mexico
2.5%
Canada
−0.0%
USA
0.2%
Country vs. Average
Appreciating
Depreciating
% Change over 3 months vs. Canada
<−10.0% −8.0% −6.0% −4.0% −2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% >10.0%
CAD depreciatingCAD appreciating
ARG
−5.4%
AUS
4.4%
BRA
7.6%
CHN
1.6%
IND
3.9%
RUS
2.4%
USA
3.0%
EUR
1.6%
JPY
6.0%
KRW
6.9%
MXN
−3.1%
ZAR
10.3%
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 12
US Banking Indicators
The banking and finance industry is a key indicator of the health
of the US economy. It provides crucial liquidity to the economy in the
form of credit, and the breakdown of that system is one of the exac-
erbating factors of the 2008 recession. Key figures to track are the
Net Interest Margins which determine profitability (ie. the difference
between what a bank pays to depositors versus what the bank is paid
by creditors), along with levels of non-performing loans (i.e. loan loss
reserves and actual deliquency rates).
US Banks Net Interest Margin
3.03.54.04.5
median: 3.93
Jan 2017: 3.10
Repos Outstanding with Fed. Reserve
BillionsofDollars
0200400600
median: 62.37
May 2017: 425.09
Bank ROE − Assets between $300M−$1B
Percent
051015
median: 12.61
Jan 2017: 9.88
Consumer Credit Outstanding
%YearlyChange
−505101520
median: 7.40
Mar 2017: 5.98
Total Business Loans
%YearlyChange
−2001020 median: 8.62
Apr 2017: 2.55
US Nonperforming Loans
12345
median: 1.94
Jan 2017: 1.32
St. Louis Financial Stress Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−112345
median: −0.016
May 2017: −1.45
Commercial Paper Outstanding
TrillionsofDollars
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1.01.41.82.2
median: 1.31
May 2017: 0.98
Residential Morgage Delinquency Rate
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
246810
median: 2.36
Oct 2016: 4.15
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 13
US Charge-Off Indication
A “charge-off” is an accounting declaration by a creditor that a
particular debt is unlikely to be collected, either in whole or in part.
Usually, the creditor is severely delinquent by the time this determina-
tion is made. For credit card debt, as an example, this determination
is usually made by the bank after six months without payment.
However, there are charge-offs for a number of different kinds of
loans and increasing charge-offs are an important barometer of the
health of creditors. In this graph, the various charge-offs are presented
as a percentage of total relevant debt outstanding. For example, credit
card charge-offs as a percentage of total credit card debt owed by con-
sumers.
Charge−off Rates for Various Categories (Seasonally Adjusted)
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Percent
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
9.0%
10.0%
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
9.0%
10.0%
3.56%
2.12%
0.47%0.39%
0.07%0.01%
Credit Card Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 4.25%, last: 3.56%)
Consumer Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 2.26%, last: 2.12%)
All Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 0.80%, last: 0.47%)
Commercial and Industrial Loans (median: 0.66%, last: 0.39%)
Single Family Residential Mortgages (median: 0.17%, last: 0.07%)
Commercial Real Estate Loans (Ex− Farmland) (median: 0.16%, last: 0.01%)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 14
US Employment Indicators
Unemployment rates are considered the “single best indicator of
current labour conditions” by the Fed. The pace of payroll growth is
highly correlated with a number of economic indicators.Payroll changes
are another way to track the change in unemployment rate.
Unemployment only captures the percentage of people who are in
the labour market who don’t currently have a job - another measure
is what percentage of the whole population wants a job (employed or
not) - this is the Participation Rate.
The Beveridge Curve measures labour market efficiency by looking
at the relationship between job openings and the unemployment rate.
The curve slopes downward reflecting that higher rates of unemploy-
ment occur coincidentally with lower levels of job vacancies.
Unemployment Rate
Percent
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
median: 6.10
Apr 2017: 4.40
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Percent
Beveridge Curve
Unemployment Rate
HelpWantedIndex
3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 11.0
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
1950's
1960's
1970's
1980's
1990's
2000's
2010's
Participation Rate
PercentofPop.
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
6364656667
median: 66.00
Apr 2017: 62.90
Total Nonfarm Payroll Change
MonthlyChange(000s)
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−5000500
median: 165.50
Apr 2017: 211
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 15
There are a number of other ways to measure the health of employ-
ment. The U6 Rate includes people who are part time that want a
full-time job - they are employed but under-utilitized. Temporary help
demand is another indicator of labour market tightness or slack.
The large chart shows changes in private industry employment lev-
els over the past year, versus how well those job segments typically pay.
Lots of hiring in low paying jobs at the expense of higher paying jobs
is generally bad, though perhaps not unsurprising in a recovery.
Median Duration of Unemployment
Weeks
510152025
median: 8.90
Apr 2017: 10.20
(U6) Unemployed + PT + Marginally Attached
Percent
810121416
median: 9.70
Apr 2017: 8.60
4−week moving average of Initial Claims
Jan1995=100
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
50100150200
median: 106.53
May 2017: 74.87
Unemployed over 27 weeks
MillionsofPersons
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
01234567
median: 0.82
Apr 2017: 1.66
Services: Temp Help
MillionsofPersons
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1.52.02.53.0
median: 2.29
Apr 2017: 3.01
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
15
20
25
30
35
40
Annual Change in Employment Levels (000s of Workers)
Averagewages($/hour)
Private Industry Employment Change (Apr 2016 − Apr 2017)
Construction
Durable Goods
Education
Financial Activities
Health Services
Information
Leisure and Hospitality
Manufacturing
Mining and Logging
Nondurable Goods
Other Services
Professional &
Business Services
Retail Trade
Transportation
Utilities
Wholesale Trade
Circle size relative to total employees in industry
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 16
US Business Activity Indicators
Business activity is split between manufacturing activity and non-
manufacturing activity. We are focusing on forward looking business
indicators like new order and inventory levels to give a sense of the
current business environment.
Manufacturing: Real Output
YoYPercentChange
−1001020
median: 7.83
Jan 2017: 2.84
Manufacturing − PMI
354045505560
Apr 2017: 52.80
manufac. expanding
manufac. contracting
Manufacturers' Durable Goods Orders
BillionsofDollars
150200250
Mar 2017: 239.44
Increase in new orders
Decrease in new orders
Non−Manufac. New Orders: Capital Goods
BillionsofDollars
40506070
median: 58.58
Mar 2017: 65.17
Average Weekly Hours: Manufacturing
3940414243
median: 41.20
Apr 2017: 41.80
Industrial Production: Manufacturing
YoYPercentChange
−15−50510
median: 2.86
Mar 2017: 0.98
Inventory to Sales Ratio
Ratio
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1.11.21.31.41.51.6
median: 1.36
Mar 2017: 1.35
Chicago Fed: Sales, Orders & Inventory
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−0.50.00.5
Mar 2017: 0.07
Above ave growth
Below ave growth
Freight Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
95105115125
Mar 2017: 124.00
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 17
S&P 500 Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis tries to determine the attitude of a speaker with
respect to some topic or the overall contextual polarity of a document.
In this particular case, we are evaluating earnings conference calls for
the S&P 500 companies over the past 10 years.
We use a proprietary sentiment mining model to determine the“sen-
timent” from the transcripts of 18,382 conference calls. The object is
to understand how the communication from executives on those con-
ference calls changes over time.
The model focuses on “relative sentiment” – the tone relative to the
arbitrary date of January 2012. While it is not an exact science, the
models do capture the significant negative sentiment in 2007-2008 and
the subsequent recovery.
−1000050010001500
Normalized Sentiment (Based on 18,382 Earnings Calls)
SentimentValue(IndexJan2012=0)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
CD
CD: +819
CS
CS: +751
En
En: +667
Fin
Fin: +1027
HC
HC: +688
Ind
Ind: +822
IT
IT: +733
Mat
Mat: +841
RE
RE: +761
Tel
Tel: +955
Ut
Ut: +856
(CD) Consumer Discretionary
(CS) Consumer Staples
(En) Energy
(Fin) Financials
(HC) Health Care
(Ind) Industrials
(IT) Information Technology
(Mat) Materials
(RE) Real Estate
(Tel) Telecommunications Services
(Ut) Utilities
S&P 500
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
−1000100
Month over Month Sentiment Change − May 2017
+62 +45
+67
+143
+74
+157
+73
+33
+89
+70
+46
Consumer
Discretionary
Consumer
Staples Energy Financials
Health
Care Industrials
Information
Technology Materials
Real
Estate
Telecommunications
Services Utilities
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 18
S&P 500 Sentiment (n = 18,382)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−1.00
$0.00
$4.00
$9.00
$14.00
$19.00
$24.00
$29.00
$34.00
$39.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Consumer Discretionary (n = 3,040)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$0.00
$1.00
$3.00
$5.00
$7.00
$9.00
$11.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Consumer Staples (n = 1,368)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$5.00
$7.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Energy (n = 1,378)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−9.00
$−4.00
$0.00
$1.00
$6.00
$11.00
$16.00
$21.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Financials (n = 2,229)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−14.00
$−9.00
$−4.00
$0.00
$1.00
$6.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Health Care (n = 2,284)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$7.00
$9.00
$11.00
$13.00
$15.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 19
Industrials (n = 2,383)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$3.00
$5.00
$7.00
$9.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Information Technology (n = 2,479)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$4.00
$6.00
$8.00
$10.00
$12.00
$14.00
$16.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Materials (n = 940)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−3.00
$−1.00
$0.00
$1.00
$3.00
$5.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Real Estate (n = 1,018)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−1.00
$−0.50
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Telecommunications Services (n = 257)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$−3.00
$−1.00
$0.00
$1.00
$3.00
$5.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
Utilities (n = 1,006)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
−1000
−500
0
500
1000
1500
$0.00
$2.00
$4.00
Sentiment Increasing
Sentiment Decreasing
Sentiment (LHS)
Operating Earnings (RHS)
S&P Estimates (RHS)
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 20
US Consumption Indicators
Variations in consumer activity are a leading indicator of the
strength of the economy. We track consumer sentiment (their expec-
tations about the future), consumer loan activity (indicator of new
purchase activity), and new orders and sales of consumer goods.
U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment
Index1966Q1=100
5060708090110
median: 89.10
Apr 2017: 97.00
Consumer Loans (All banks)
YoY%Change
−10010203040
median: 7.62
Apr 2017: 5.78
Accounting
Change
Deliquency Rate on Consumer Loans
Percentage
2.03.04.0
median: 3.42
Oct 2016: 2.15
New Orders: Durable Consumer Goods
YoY%Change
−20020
median: 4.33
Mar 2017: −1.28
New Orders: Non−durable Consumer Goods
YoY%Change
−2001020
median: 3.78
Mar 2017: 10.36
Personal Consumption & Housing Index
Index
−0.40.00.20.4
median: 0.02
Mar 2017: −0.05above ave growth
below ave growth
Light Cars and Trucks Sales
MillionsofUnits
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
10121416182022
median: 14.91
Mar 2017: 16.53
Personal Saving Rate
Percent
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
246810
median: 5.70
Mar 2017: 5.90
Retail Food and Service Sales
YoY%Change(Real)
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−10−505
median: 2.43
Apr 2017: 2.21
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 21
US Housing
Housing construction is only about 5-8% of the US economy, how-
ever a house is typically the largest asset owned by a household. Since
personal consumption is about 70% of the US economy and house val-
ues directly impact household wealth, housing is an important indicator
in the health of the overall economy. In particular, housing investment
was an important driver of the economy getting out of the last few
recessions (though not this one so far). Here we track housing prices
and especially indicators which show the current state of the housing
market.
15 20 25 30 35 40
150200250300
Personal Income vs. Housing Prices (Inflation adjusted values)
NewHomePrice(000's)
Disposable Income Per Capita (000's)
March 2017
r2
: 89.9%
Range: Jan 1962 − Mar 2017
Blue dots > +5% change in next year
Red dots < −5% change in next year
New Housing Units Permits Authorized
MillionsofUnits
0.51.01.52.02.5
median: 1.33
Mar 2017: 1.27
New Home Median Sale Price
SalePrice$000's
100200300
Mar 2017: 315.10
Homeowner's Equity Level
Percent
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
4050607080
median: 66.50
Oct 2016: 57.80
New Homes: Median Months on the Market
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
468101214
median: 4.90
Mar 2017: 3.70
US Monthly Supply of Homes
MonthsSupply
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
4681012
median: 5.80
Mar 2017: 5.20
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 22
US Housing - FHFA Quarterly Index
The Federal Housing Finance Agency provides a quarterly survey
on house prices, based on sales prices and appraisal data. This gener-
ates a housing index for 355 municipal areas in the US from 1979 to
present. We have provided an alternative view of this data looking at
the change in prices from the peak in the 2007 time frame.
The goal is to provide a sense of where the housing markets are
weak versus strong.The colours represent gain or losses since the start
of the housing crisis (defined as the maximum price between 2007-2009
for each city). The circled dots are the cities in the survey, while the
background colours are interpolated from these points using a loess
smoother.
Change from 2007 Peak − Q2 2016
−50%
−40%
−30%
−20%
−10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Today's Home Prices
Percentage Change from 2007−2009 Peak
Frequency
−75% −50% −25% 0% 25% 50% 75%
Year over Year Change − Q2 2016
−10%
−8%
−6%
−4%
−2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
YoY Change in this quarter
YoY Percent Change
Frequency
−15% −10% −5% 0% 5% 10% 15%
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 23
Global Business Indicators
Global Manufacturing PMI Reports
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator reflecting
purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. An index read-
ing of 50.0 means that business conditions are unchanged, a number
over 50.0 indicates an improvement while anything below 50.0 suggests
a decline. The further away from 50.0 the index is, the stronger the
change over the month. The chart at the bottom shows a moving av-
erage of a number of PMI’s, along with standard deviation bands to
show a global average.
Global M−PMI − April 2017
<40.0 42.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0 >60.0
Steady ExpandingContracting
Eurozone
56.7
Global PMI
52.8
TWN
54.4MEX
50.7
KOR
49.4
JPN
52.7
VNM
54.1
IDN
51.2
ZAF
50.3
AUS
59.2
BRA
50.1
CAN
55.9
CHN
50.3
IND
52.5
RUS
50.8
SAU
56.5
USA
52.8
Global M−PMI Monthly Change
<−5.0 −4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0
PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating
Eurozone
0.5
Global PMI
−0.2
TWN
−1.8MEX
−0.8
KOR
1.0
JPN
0.3
VNM
−0.5
IDN
0.7
ZAF
−0.4
AUS
1.7
BRA
0.5
CAN
0.4
CHN
−0.9
IND
0.0
RUS
−1.6
SAU
0.1
USA
−0.5
Purchase Managers Index (Manufacturing) − China, Japan, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Australia
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
3040506070
3040506070
Business Conditions Contracting
Business Conditions Expanding
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 24
Global Manufacturing PMI Chart
This is an alternate view of the global PMI reports. Here, we look
at all the various PMI data series in a single chart and watch their
evolution over time.
Red numbers indicate contraction (as estimated by PMI) while
green numbers indicate expansion.
Apr15
May15
Jun15
Jul15
Aug15
Sep15
Oct15
Nov15
Dec15
Jan16
Feb16
Mar16
Apr16
May16
Jun16
Jul16
Aug16
Sep16
Oct16
Nov16
Dec16
Jan17
Feb17
Mar17
Apr17
Australia
India
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Taiwan
China
South Korea
Japan
South Africa
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Russia
UK
Greece
Germany
France
Italy
Czech Republic
Spain
Poland
Ireland
Netherlands
Eurozone
Brazil
Mexico
Canada
USA
Global PMI 51.0 51.2 51.0 51.0 50.7 50.7 51.3 51.2 50.7 50.9 50.0 50.6 50.1 50.0 50.4 51.0 50.8 51.0 52.0 52.1 52.7 52.7 53.0 53.0 52.8
54.1 54.0 53.6 53.8 53.0 53.1 54.1 52.8 51.2 52.4 51.3 51.5 50.8 50.7 51.3 52.9 52.0 51.5 53.4 54.1 54.3 55.0 54.2 53.3 52.8
49.0 49.8 51.3 50.8 49.4 48.6 48.0 48.6 47.5 49.3 49.4 51.5 52.2 52.1 51.8 51.9 51.1 50.3 51.1 51.5 51.8 53.5 54.7 55.5 55.9
53.8 53.3 52.0 52.9 52.4 52.1 53.0 53.0 52.4 52.2 53.1 53.2 52.4 53.6 51.1 50.6 50.9 51.9 51.8 51.1 50.2 50.8 50.6 51.5 50.7
46.0 45.9 46.5 47.2 45.8 47.0 44.1 43.8 45.6 47.4 44.5 46.0 42.6 41.6 43.2 46.0 45.7 46.0 46.3 46.2 45.2 44.0 46.9 49.6 50.1
52.0 52.2 52.5 52.4 52.3 52.0 52.3 52.8 53.2 52.3 51.2 51.6 51.7 51.5 52.8 52.0 51.7 52.6 53.5 53.7 54.9 55.2 55.4 56.2 56.7
54.0 55.5 56.2 56.0 53.9 53.0 53.7 53.5 53.4 52.4 51.7 53.6 52.6 52.7 52.0 53.2 53.5 53.4 55.7 57.0 57.3 56.5 58.3 57.8 57.8
55.8 57.1 54.6 56.7 53.6 53.8 53.6 53.3 54.2 54.3 52.9 54.9 52.6 51.5 53.0 50.2 51.7 51.3 52.1 53.7 55.7 55.5 53.8 53.6 55.0
54.0 52.4 54.3 54.5 51.1 50.9 52.2 52.1 52.1 50.9 52.8 53.8 51.0 52.1 51.8 50.3 51.5 52.2 50.2 51.9 54.3 54.8 54.2 53.5 54.1
54.2 55.8 54.5 53.6 53.2 51.7 51.3 53.1 53.0 55.4 54.1 53.4 53.5 51.8 52.2 51.0 51.0 52.3 53.3 54.5 55.3 55.6 54.8 53.9 54.5
54.7 55.5 56.9 57.5 56.6 55.5 54.0 54.2 55.6 56.9 55.5 54.3 53.6 53.3 51.8 49.3 50.1 52.0 53.3 52.2 53.8 55.7 57.6 57.5 57.5
53.8 54.8 54.1 55.3 53.8 52.7 54.1 54.9 55.6 53.2 52.2 53.5 53.9 52.4 53.5 51.2 49.8 51.0 50.9 52.2 53.2 53.0 55.0 55.7 56.2
48.0 49.4 50.7 49.6 48.3 50.6 50.6 50.6 51.4 50.0 50.2 49.6 48.0 48.4 48.3 48.6 48.3 49.7 51.8 51.7 53.5 53.6 52.2 53.3 55.1
52.1 51.1 51.9 51.8 53.3 52.3 52.1 52.9 53.2 52.3 50.5 50.7 51.8 52.1 54.5 53.8 53.6 54.3 55.0 54.3 55.6 56.4 56.8 58.3 58.2
46.5 48.0 46.9 30.2 39.1 43.3 47.3 48.1 50.2 50.0 48.4 49.0 49.7 48.4 50.4 48.7 50.4 49.2 48.6 48.3 49.3 46.6 47.7 46.7 48.2
51.9 52.0 51.4 51.9 51.6 51.8 55.5 52.7 51.9 52.9 50.8 50.7 49.2 50.1 52.1 48.2 53.3 55.4 54.2 53.4 56.1 55.7 54.6 54.2 57.3
48.9 47.6 48.7 48.3 47.9 49.1 50.2 50.1 48.7 49.8 49.3 48.3 48.0 49.6 51.5 49.5 50.8 51.1 52.4 53.6 53.7 54.7 52.5 52.4 50.8
48.5 50.2 49.0 50.1 49.3 48.0 49.5 50.9 52.2 50.9 50.3 49.2 48.9 49.4 47.4 47.6 47.0 48.3 49.8 48.8 47.7 48.7 49.7 52.3 51.7
58.3 57.0 56.1 57.5 58.7 56.5 55.7 56.3 54.4 53.9 54.4 54.5 54.2 54.8 54.4 56.0 56.6 55.3 53.2 55.0 55.5 56.7 57.0 56.4 56.5
51.5 50.1 49.2 48.9 49.3 47.9 47.5 49.6 49.1 49.6 49.1 47.0 47.9 50.2 49.6 49.9 49.8 50.7 50.5 50.8 51.6 51.3 50.5 50.7 50.3
49.9 50.9 50.1 51.2 51.7 51.0 52.4 52.6 52.6 52.3 50.1 49.1 48.2 47.7 48.1 49.3 49.5 50.4 51.4 51.3 52.4 52.7 53.3 52.4 52.7
48.8 47.8 46.1 47.6 47.9 49.2 49.1 49.1 50.7 49.5 48.7 49.5 50.0 50.1 50.5 50.1 48.6 47.6 48.0 48.0 49.4 49.0 49.2 48.4 49.4
48.9 49.2 49.4 47.8 47.3 47.2 48.3 48.6 48.2 48.4 48.0 49.7 49.4 49.2 48.6 50.6 50.0 50.1 51.2 50.9 51.9 51.0 51.7 51.2 50.3
49.2 49.3 46.3 47.1 46.1 46.9 47.8 49.5 51.7 50.6 49.4 51.1 49.7 48.5 50.5 51.0 51.8 52.2 52.7 54.7 56.2 55.6 54.5 56.2 54.4
53.5 54.8 52.2 52.6 51.3 49.5 50.1 49.4 51.3 51.5 50.3 50.7 52.3 52.7 52.6 51.9 52.2 52.9 51.7 54.0 52.4 51.9 54.2 54.6 54.1
46.7 47.1 47.8 47.3 48.4 47.4 47.8 46.9 47.8 48.9 48.7 50.6 50.9 50.6 51.9 48.4 50.4 50.9 48.7 49.7 49.0 50.4 49.3 50.5 51.2
51.3 52.6 51.3 52.7 52.3 51.2 50.7 50.3 49.1 51.1 51.1 52.4 50.5 50.7 51.7 51.8 52.6 52.1 54.4 52.3 49.6 50.4 50.7 52.5 52.5
48.0 52.3 44.2 50.4 51.7 52.1 50.2 52.5 51.9 51.5 53.5 58.1 53.4 51.0 51.8 56.4 46.9 49.8 50.5 54.2 55.4 51.2 59.3 57.5 59.2
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 25
Global Trade/Export Metrics
The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis pub-
lishes the World Trade Monitor. The WTM summarizes worldwide
monthly data on international trade and production. Data is from a
variety of sources, which are normalized into a set of indexed curves
which show trends in world trade.
World Imports and Exports
Index:2010=100
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
708090100110120
Exports
Imports
World Exports by Region
Index:2010=100
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
60708090100110120130
USA
Japan
Euro Area
Latin America
Africa & Middle East
Emerging Asia
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 26
Canadian Indicators
Retail Trade (SA)
YoYPercentChange
−50510
median: 4.75
Feb 2017: 4.65
Total Manufacturing Sales Growth
YoYPercentGrowth
−20−1001020
median: 3.56
Feb 2017: 6.81
Manufacturing New Orders Growth
YoYPercentGrowth
−30−100102030
median: 4.01
Feb 2017: 12.58
1yr vs. 10yr Canada Bond Yields
Yield(Percent)
0246810
median: 5.54
Apr 2017: 1.48
10 yr bond
1 yr bond
Manufacturing PMI
4850525456
Apr 2017: 55.90
Sales and New Orders (SA)
YoYPercentChange
−20−1001020
Sales
New Orders (smoothed)
Tbill Yield Spread (10 yr − 3mo)
Spread(Percent)
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−101234
median: 1.28
Apr 2017: 0.96
Inflation (total and core)
YoYPercentChange
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−101234
median: 1.85
Mar 2017: 1.56
All Items
Ex Food & Energy
Inventory to Sales Ratio (SA)
Ratio
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1.31.41.51.6
median: 1.35
Feb 2017: 1.34
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 27
6.6 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.4 7.6
1.21.31.41.51.61.71.81.9
Beveridge Curve (Mar 2011 − Jan 2017)
as.numeric(can.bev$ui.rate)
as.numeric(can.bev$vacancies)
Mar 2011 − Dec 2012
Jan 2013 − Dec 2016
Jan 2017
Unemployment Rate
JobVacancyrate(Industrial)
Ownership/Rental Price Ratio
RatioofAccomodationOwnership/RentRatio
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
90100110120130140150
Calgary
Montreal
Vancouver
Toronto
Note: Using prices relative to 2002 as base year
Ownership relatively more
expensive vs 2002
Rent relatively more expensive vs 2002
Unemployment Rate (SA)
Percent
345678910
Canada 6.5%
Alberta 7.9%
Ontario 5.8%
Debt Service Ratios (SA)
Percent
0246810
Total Debt: 6.1%
Mortgage: 3.0%
Consumer Debt: 6.3%
Housing Starts and Building Permits (smoothed)
YoYPercentChange
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−40−2002040
Permits
Starts
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 28
European Indicators
Unemployment Rates
Percentage
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
051015202530
FR
DE
GB
IT
GR
ES
EU
Business Employment Expectations
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−40−20010
Industrial Orderbook Levels
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−60−40−20020
Country Employment
Expect.
Unempl.
(%)
Bond
Yields
(%)
Retail
Turnover
Manufacturing
Turnover
Inflation
(YoY
%)
Industry
Order-
book
PMI
Series Dates Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Mar 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 Apr 2017
France -4.2 J 10.1 K 0.88 J 115.7 I 109.6 I 1.4 K -8.3 I 55.1 I
Germany 6.8 I 3.9 K 0.22 J NA 118.1 J 1.5 J 2.7 I 58.2 J
United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland 1.6 J 4.5 J 1.00 J 119.0 J NA 2.3 K 5.9 J 57.3 I
Italy 4.7 I 11.7 I 2.26 J 102.4 J NA 1.4 J -5.7 I 56.2 I
Greece -2.0 J 23.5 K 6.70 J NA NA 1.7 I -23.6 J 48.2 I
Spain 7.7 I 18.2 K 1.61 J NA NA 2.1 J 1.3 I 54.5 I
Eurozone (EU28) 5.0 I 8.0 J 1.32 J 113.1 J 115.5 K 1.6 -2.2 I NA
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 29
Government Bond YieldsLongTermYields%
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0246810
Economic Sentiment
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
60708090110130
Consumer Confidence
Index
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−100−60−20020
Inflation (Harmonized Prices)
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
median: 1.90
Mar 2017: 1.50
−1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Harmonized Inflation: Feb 2017
AUT
2.2%
BGR
1.0%
DEU
1.5%
ESP
2.1%
FIN
0.9%
FRA
1.4%
GBR
2.3%
GRC
1.7%
HRV
1.1%
HUN
2.7%
IRL
0.6%
ISL
−1.4%
ITA
1.4%
NOR
2.5%
POL
1.8%
ROU
0.4%
SWE
1.4%
<−1.0%0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% >7.0%
YoY % Change in Prices
PMI: April 2017
<40.042.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0>60.0
Steady ExpandingContracting
BRA
50.1
CAN
55.9
DEU
58.2
ESP
54.5
FRA
55.1
GBR
57.3
GRC
48.2
IRL
55.0
ITA
56.2
MEX
50.7
POL
54.1
SAU
56.5
TUR
51.7
USA
52.8
RUS
50.8
PMI Change: Mar − Apr
<−5.0−4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0
PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating
CAN
0.4
DEU
−0.1
ESP
0.6
FRA
1.8
GBR
3.1
GRC
1.5
IRL
1.4
ITA
0.5
POL
0.6
TUR
−0.6
USA
−0.5
RUS
−1.6
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 30
Chinese Indicators
Tracking the Chinese economy is a tricky. As reported in the Fi-
nancial Times, Premier Li Keqiang confided to US officials in 2007 that
gross domestic product was “man made” and “for reference only”. In-
stead, he suggested that it was much more useful to focus on three alter-
native indicators: electricity consumption, rail cargo volumes and bank
lending (still tracking down that last one). We also include the PMI
- which is an official version put out by the Chinese government and
differs slightly from an HSBC version. Finally we include the Shanghai
Composite Index as a measure of stock performance.
Manufacturing PMI
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
4045505560
Apr 2017: 50.30
Shanghai Composite Index
IndexValue(MonthlyHigh/Low)
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
0100030005000
May 2017: 3083.51
Electricity Generated
100MillionKWH(logscale)
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1000200030005000
Mar 2017: 5169.00
Electricity Generated
Long Term Trend
Short Term Average
Consumer Confidence Index
Index
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
100105110
median: 104.10
Mar 2017: 111.00
Exports
YoYPercentChange
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
−20020406080
median: 17.75
Apr 2017: 8.00
Retail Sales Growth
YoYPercentChange
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
101520
median: 12.60
Apr 2017: 10.70
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 31
Global Climate Data
Temperature and precipitation data are taken from the US National
Climatic Data Center and presented as the average monthly anomaly
from the previous 6 months. Anomalies are defined as the difference
from the average value over the period from 1971-2000 for the tem-
perature map and over the 20th century for the global temparature
chart.
Average Temperature Anomalies from Oct 2016 - Mar 2017
<−4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 >4.0
Anomalies in Celsius WarmerCooler Anomalies in Celcius
−4 −2 0 2 4
Historic Global Temperature Deviations
DegreesCelsiusDeviations
−0.50.00.51.0
Dec 2016: 0.79
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 32
Subscription Info The Global Economics Report is published by Laird Research Inc. To sign up for a FREE subscription to this report, please
visit our website: LairdResearch.com. Comments or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you!
Disclaimer: This document has been prepared in good faith on the basis of information available at the date of publication without any independent
verification. Laird Research Inc. collects its data from public sources which it believes to be accurate, however it does not guarantee or warrant
the accuracy, reliability, completeness or currency of the information in this publication nor its usefulness in achieving any purpose. Readers are
responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of this publication. Laird Research Inc. will not be liable for any loss, damage,
cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on information in this publication.
Copyright: This publication is Copyright ©2017 by Laird Research Inc. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be
reproduced in any form without written permission from Laird Research Inc. Note that the data provided herein is collected from publicly available
sources, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and government releases, and any copyright to that data belongs to the owners.
www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 33

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Global Economics Update 2017-05-16

  • 1. .... Global Economics Report May 16, 2017 Where We Are Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Indicators for US Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 US Economic Heartbeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Global Financial Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 US Key Interest Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 US Inflation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Exchange Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 US Banking Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 US Employment Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 US Business Activity Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 S&P 500 Sentiment Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 US Consumption Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 US Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Global Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Global Trade/Export Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Canadian Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 European Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Chinese Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Global Climate Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Where We Are Now This month is officially the “it gets better” edition. Economic data has been perking up since the end of the election last year and it seems clear that overall, things are continuing to improve. But what seems to have changed the most is sentiment – this is the expectation that things are getting better in the future. Whether it is broad global surveys like the PMI, US Consumer sentiment surveys or even the sentiment analysis this report does on S&P 500 conference calls, the direction is up up up. There are some warning signs like net operating profit margins – they are already above historical averages and are more likely to de- cline. Part is due to accounting changes, but this isn’t about rising earnings which in a large part are due to share buybacks. This is op- erating margins which are not impacted by share counts. There is the looming interest rate increases which will eventually have an effect – if it is more expensive to borrow, that is a drag. But again, the thing I watch the most is credit deterioration. The uptick in chargebacks is real and an indication that something is breaking down. Formatting Notes The grey bars on the various charts are OECD recession indicators for the respective countries. Subscription Info For a FREE subscription to this monthly re- port, please visit sign up at our website: www.lairdresearch.com Laird Research, May 16, 2017
  • 2. Indicators for US Economy Leading indicators are indicators that usually change before the economy as a whole changes. They are useful as short-term predictors of the economy. Our list includes the Philly Fed’s Leading Index which summarizes multiple indicators; initial jobless claims and hours worked (both decrease quickly when demand for employee services drops and vice versa); purchasing manager indicies; trucking indices showing de- mand for transport; new order and housing permit indicies and con- sumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about their own financial situation and the economy in general). Red dots are points where a new trend has started. Leading Index for the US Index:Est.6monthgrowth 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −2−10123 median: 1.53 Mar 2017: 1.66 Growth Contraction Initial Unemployment Claims 1000'sofClaimsperWeek 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 200300400500600 median: 346.50 May 2017: 243.50 Manufacturing Ave. Weekly Hours Worked HoursworkedperWeek 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 394041424344 median: 40.60 Apr 2017: 41.80 Manfacturing − PMI Index:SteadyState=50 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 3040506070 median: 52.75 Apr 2017: 52.80expanding economy contracting economy www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 2
  • 3. Leading indicators are indicators that usually change before the economy as a whole changes. They are useful as short-term predictors of the economy. Our list includes the Philly Fed’s Leading Index which summarizes multiple indicators; initial jobless claims and hours worked (both decrease quickly when demand for employee services drops and vice versa); purchasing manager indicies; trucking indices showing de- mand for transport; new order and housing permit indicies and con- sumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about their own financial situation and the economy in general). Red dots are points where a new trend has started. Durable Goods: Manufacturers New Orders BillionsofDollars 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 150200250 median: 186.51 Mar 2017: 239.44 Index of Truck Tonnage Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 100110120130140 median: 113.50 Mar 2017: 137.40 Capex (ex. Defense & Planes) BillionsofDollars 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 40506070 median: 58.58 Mar 2017: 65.17 U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment Index1966Q1=100 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 5060708090100110 median: 89.10 Apr 2017: 97.00 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 3
  • 4. US Economic Heartbeat MarketHack Inc. is proud to present our proprietary Economic Heartbeat index. It uses monthly economic data from 1960 onwards to create a diffusion index. Each point represents the index value for a given month. Months with a recession are represented by red dots, otherwise they are blue. The green line is selected to maximize the probability that dots above the line indicate a recession – especially as it crosses the line. Our current month is shown in Purple at the far right of the series. The index is based on such as: incomes, employment, industrial pro- duction, prices, housing, orders and inventories and credit/monetary policy. 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Good Times Danger Zone Recession Recovery Recession Recovery Recession Recovery Recession Recovery Recession Recovery Recession Recovery Recession Recovery YOU ARE HERE Recession months Non−recession months Current month (Feb 2017) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 4
  • 5. Global Financial Markets Global Stock Market Returns Country Index Name Close Date Current Value Weekly Change Monthly Change 3 month Change 12 month Change Corr to S&P500 Corr to TSX North America USA S&P 500 May 12 2,390.9 -0.3% J 2.0% I 2.7% I 15.8% I 1.00 0.62 USA NASDAQ Composite May 12 6,121.2 0.3% I 4.9% I 6.2% I 29.2% I 0.91 0.54 USA Wilshire 5000 Total Market May 12 24,855.9 -0.5% J 1.8% I 2.0% I 16.6% I 0.96 0.62 Canada S&P TSX May 12 15,537.9 -0.3% J -0.7% J -1.4% J 12.7% I 0.62 1.00 Europe and Russia France CAC 40 May 12 5,405.4 -0.5% J 6.0% I 10.6% I 25.9% I 0.59 0.41 Germany DAX May 12 12,770.4 0.4% I 5.1% I 8.5% I 29.5% I 0.57 0.42 Russia Market Vectors Russia ETF May 12 20.5 0.7% I 2.4% I -5.7% J 20.4% I 0.45 0.49 Asia Taiwan TSEC weighted index May 12 9,986.8 0.9% I 1.7% I 2.8% I 23.2% I -0.13 -0.08 China Shanghai Composite Index May 15 3,090.2 0.4% I -3.3% J -3.8% J 8.4% I 0.02 0.03 Japan NIKKEI 225 May 12 19,883.9 -0.1% J 7.2% I 2.2% I 19.4% I 0.30 0.28 Hong Kong Hang Seng May 12 25,156.3 2.8% I 3.5% I 6.1% I 26.3% I -0.05 -0.08 Korea Kospi May 12 2,286.0 -0.3% J 7.4% I 10.0% I 15.6% I 0.01 -0.06 South Asia and Austrailia India Bombay Stock Exchange May 12 30,188.2 1.1% I 1.8% I 6.5% I 17.1% I 0.19 0.04 Indonesia Jakarta May 12 5,675.2 -0.1% J 0.6% I 4.9% I 18.2% I -0.14 -0.01 Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI May 12 1,775.9 0.7% I 1.8% I 3.8% I 7.7% I -0.02 0.16 Australia All Ordinaries May 12 5,870.9 0.1% I -1.6% J 1.0% I 8.3% I 0.09 0.20 New Zealand NZX 50 Index Gross May 12 7,452.4 1.2% I 2.8% I 4.4% I 7.6% I 0.06 0.11 South America Brasil IBOVESPA May 12 68,222.0 3.8% I 6.8% I 1.9% I 28.1% I 0.46 0.58 Argentina MERVAL Buenos Aires May 12 21,502.4 1.6% I 3.3% I 10.2% I 60.8% I 0.26 0.46 Mexico Bolsa index May 12 49,426.1 -0.1% J 1.0% I 3.7% I 8.2% I 0.35 0.47 MENA and Africa Egypt Market Vectors Egypt ETF May 12 28.1 2.9% I -0.7% J 1.7% I -25.3% J 0.06 0.18 (Gulf States) Market Vectors Gulf States ETF Oct 07 23.0 3.2% I 1.2% I 6.4% I -6.4% J 0.16 0.05 South Africa iShares MSCI South Africa Index May 12 59.2 2.3% I 4.1% I 5.9% I 22.9% I 0.40 0.47 (Africa) Market Vectors Africa ETF May 12 21.2 2.6% I 0.2% I -2.1% J 7.1% I 0.22 0.34 Commodities USD Spot Oil West Texas Int. May 08 $46.5 -4.9% J -12.4% J -11.3% J 6.9% I 0.18 0.38 USD Gold LME Spot May 15 $1,231.5 0.1% I -4.2% J 0.5% I -3.9% J -0.28 -0.14 Note: Correlations are based on daily arithmetic returns for the most recent 100 trading days. www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 5
  • 6. S&P 500 Composite Index The S&P 500 Composite Index is widely regarded as the best single gauge of the large cap U.S. equities market. A key figure is the valua- tion level of the S&P500 as measured by the Price/Earnings ratio. We present two versions: (1) a 12-month trailing earnings version which reflects current earnings but is skewed by short term variances and (2) a cyclically adjusted version which looks at the inflation adjusted earn- ings over a 10 year period (i.e. at least one business cycle). Forecasted earnings numbers are estimates provided by S&P. S&P 500 Profit Margins and Overall Corporate Profit Margins (Trailing 12 months) Percent 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Percent Total Corporate Profits (% of GDP) − median: 6.2%, Q4/16: 9.2% Net Profit Margin (S&P 500 Earnings / Revenue) − median: 6.7%, Q4/16: 8.2% S&P Quarterly Earnings (USD$ Inflation Adjusted to current prices) 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Estimates −5.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 −5.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 Tech Bubble Japanese Asset Bubble House BubbleAsian Financial Crisis US Financial Crisis Eurozone crisis Oil Crisis I Oil Crisis II Gulf War Savings and Loans Crisis High Inflation Period Afganistan/Iraq WarVietnam War Reported Earnings Operating Earnings Trailing P/E Ratios for S&P500 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 Multiple Multiple 12−month trailing P/E ( median = 17.5, May = 23.0) 10−year CAPE ( median = 19.7, May = 28.9) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 6
  • 7. S&P 500 Composite Distributions This is a view of the price performance of the S&P 500 companies. The area of each box is proportional to the market cap, while the colour is determined by the percentage change in value over the past month. Companies are sorted according to their industry group. AAPL +9.1% GOOG +11% MSFT +4.3% FB +5.7% V +3.8% ORCL +1.5% CSCO +0.48% INTC −1% IBM −13% MA +4.6% AVGO QCOM TXN +1% NVDA ACN NFLX ADBE CRM ADP ATVI CTSH EBAY EA HPQ INTU MU HPE FIS TEL GLW ADI APH CA IT WU BRK−B −2.1% JPM −0.11% WFC −3.8% BAC +1.7% C +2.6% GS −2.7% USB −0.27% MS +0.5% AXP CB BLK PNC AIG MET BK PRU CME COF MMC BBT TRV AON STT ALL AFL BEN DFS SYF KEY RF L IVZ AJG JNJ −0.84% PFE −2.7% MRK +0.16% UNH +3.8% AMGN −2.2% MDT +2.9% ABBV CELG BMY GILD LLY AGN ABT TMO DHR BIIB SYK ANTM AET REGN CI BDX BSX BAX EW CAH BCR MYL ABC A LH WAT CNC DVA AMZN +7.8% HD +7% CMCSA +3.8% DIS −3.1% MCD +12% NKE PCLN SBUX CHTR −1.9% TWX LOW FOX GM TJX CCL F MAR TGT DISH NWL ROST YUM RCL VFC DG AZO DLTR ULTA MHK LB TIF DRI M RL WMT +6.1% PG −3.2% KO +2.8% PM −1.1% PEP MO −1.4% KHC −2.3% RAI +4.2% WBA +2.8% CVS COST +7% MDLZ +4.2% CL KMB STZ EL GIS SYY MNST KR K ADM HSY TSN TAP GE −5.4% MMM BA +4.5% HON +5.8% UTX +8% UPS UNP LMT CAT GD FDX CSX ITW RTN NOC JCI DE DAL LUV ETN WM CMI UAL IR RSG PH ROK AYI XOM +1.5% CVX −1.7% SLB −8.6% COP EOG OXY KMI PSX HAL BHI APA FTI NBL NOV NEE DUK SO D PCG AEP PPL EIX ED XEL ES AMT SPG PSA CCI EQIX PLD HCN WY VTR O DOW DD PX ECL LYB PPG IP BLL T −6.3% VZ −5.7% LVLT CTL Information Technology Financials Health Care Consumer Discretionary Consumer Staples Industrials Energy Utilities Real Estate Materials Telecommunication Services <−25.0% −20.0% −15.0% −10.0% −5.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% >25.0% % Change in Price from Apr 3, 2017 to May 12, 2017 Average Median Median Median Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E Information Technology 5.7% I 3.6 5.5 25.9 Consumer Discretionary 2.8% I 1.6 3.6 18.7 Industrials 2.1% I 1.7 4.3 22.6 Health Care 1.5% I 3.6 3.9 28.6 Consumer Staples 1.4% I 2.6 5.0 25.2 Materials 1.1% I 1.9 3.9 26.8 Average Median Median Median Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E Utilities 1.0% I 2.2 2.1 20.5 Financials -0.4% J 2.8 1.5 16.3 Real Estate -0.6% J 8.6 2.6 31.2 Energy -2.5% J 2.9 2.0 30.4 Telecommunication Services -5.3% J 1.5 1.9 21.5 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 7
  • 8. US Equity Valuations A key valuation metric is Tobin’s q: the ratio between the market value of the entire US stock market versus US net assets at replacement cost (ie. what you pay versus what you get). Warren Buffet famously follows stock market value as a percentage of GNP, which is highly (93%) correlated to Tobin’s q. We can also take the reverse approach: assume the market has valuations correct, we can determine the required returns of future es- timated earnings. These are quoted for both debt (using BBB rated securities as a proxy) and equity premiums above the risk free rate (10 year US Treasuries). These figures are alternate approaches to under- standing the current market sentiment - higher premiums indicate a demand for greater returns for the same price and show the level of risk-aversion in the market. Tobin's q (Market Equity / Market Net Worth) and S&P500 Price/Sales 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 Buying assets at a discount Paying up for growth Tobin Q (median = 0.77, Dec = 1.00) S&P 500 Price/Sales (median = 1.37, Dec = 1.95) Equity and Debt Risk Premiums: Spread vs. Risk Free Rate (10−year US Treasury) 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% Implied Equity Premium (median = 4.1%, May = 4.4%) Debt (BBB) Premium (median = 1.6%, May = 1.3%) Debt (BAA) Premium www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 8
  • 9. US Mutual Fund Flows Fund flows describe the net investments in equity and bond mutual funds as well as ETF’s in the US market, as described in ICI’s “Trends in Mutual Fund Investing” report. Previously we just looked at mutual fund flows, but with the global trend to ETF’s, this only presented a partial picture. US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds & ETFs US$billions(monthly) 2014 2015 2016 2017 −40−2002040 Domestic Equity World Equity Taxable Bonds Municipal Bonds US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds & ETFs US$billions(Monthly) 2014 2015 2016 2017 −60−40−200204060 Flows to Equity Flows to Bonds Net Market Flows www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 9
  • 10. US Key Interest Rates Interest rates are often leading indicators of stress in the financial system. The yield curve show the time structure of interest rates on government bonds - Usually the longer the time the loan is outstanding, the higher the rate charged. However if a recession is expected, then the fed cuts rates and this relationship is inverted - leading to negative spreads where short term rates are higher than long term rates. Almost every recession in the past century has been preceeded by an inversion - though not every inversion preceeds a recession (just most of the time). For corporate bonds, the key issue is the spread between bond rates (i.e. AAA vs BBB bonds) or between government loans (LIBOR vs Fedfunds - the infamous “TED Spread”). Here a spike correlates to an aversion to risk, which is an indication that something bad is happen- ing. US Treasury Yield Curves ForwardInstantaneousRates(%) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5May 12, 2017 (Today) Apr 12, 2017 (1 mo ago) Feb 13, 2017 (3 mo ago) 12 May 2016 (1 yr ago) 3 Month & 10 Yr Treasury Yields 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%10 Yr Treasury 3 Mo Treasury Spread AAA vs. BBB Bond Spreads 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% Percent AAA BBB 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 median: 112.00 May 2017: 62.00 0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400 Spread(bps) LIBOR vs. Fedfunds Rate 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% Percent 3 mos t−bill LIBOR 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 median: 36.62 May 2017: 30.46 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300 Spread(bps) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 10
  • 11. US Inflation Generally, the US Fed tries to anchor long run inflation expectations to approximately 2%. Inflation can be measured with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. In both cases, it makes sense to exclude items that vary quickly like Food and Energy to get a clearer picture of inflation (usually called Core Inflation). The Fed seems to think PCI more accurately reflects the entire basket of goods and services that households purchase. Finally, we can make a reasonable estimate of future inflation ex- pectations by comparing real return and normal bonds to construct an imputed forward inflation expectation. The 5y5y chart shows expected 5 year inflation rates at a point 5 years in the future. Neat trick that. Consumer Price Index Percent 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 −1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% −1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% US Inflation Rate YoY% (Aug = 1.1%) US Inflation ex Food & Energy YoY% (Aug = 2.3%) Personal Consumption Expenditures Percent(YearoverYear) 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −10123456 PCE Inflation Rate YoY% (Aug = 0.96%) PCE Core Inflation YoY% (Aug = 1.7%) 5−Year, 5−Year Forward Inflation Expectation Rate Percent 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 −10123456 5 year forward Inflation Expectation Actual 5yr Inflation (CPI measure) Actual 5yr Inflation (PCE Measure) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 11
  • 12. Exchange Rates 10 Week Moving Average CAD Exchange Rates 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0.620.710.810.901.001.09 USA/CAD 0.550.610.660.720.770.82 Euro/CAD 59.1674.7190.26105.81121.36136.91 Japan/CAD 0.380.440.490.550.610.67 U.K./CAD 0.591.101.602.112.613.12 Brazil/CAD CAD Appreciating CAD Depreciating Change in F/X: Aug 1 2016 to Sep 30 2016 (Trade Weighted Currency Index of USD Trading Partners) −3.0% −1.5% 1.5% 3.0% Euro −0.7% UK 1.3% Japan −1.2% South Korea −0.9% China 0.2% India −0.3% Brazil −0.8% Mexico 2.5% Canada −0.0% USA 0.2% Country vs. Average Appreciating Depreciating % Change over 3 months vs. Canada <−10.0% −8.0% −6.0% −4.0% −2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% >10.0% CAD depreciatingCAD appreciating ARG −5.4% AUS 4.4% BRA 7.6% CHN 1.6% IND 3.9% RUS 2.4% USA 3.0% EUR 1.6% JPY 6.0% KRW 6.9% MXN −3.1% ZAR 10.3% www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 12
  • 13. US Banking Indicators The banking and finance industry is a key indicator of the health of the US economy. It provides crucial liquidity to the economy in the form of credit, and the breakdown of that system is one of the exac- erbating factors of the 2008 recession. Key figures to track are the Net Interest Margins which determine profitability (ie. the difference between what a bank pays to depositors versus what the bank is paid by creditors), along with levels of non-performing loans (i.e. loan loss reserves and actual deliquency rates). US Banks Net Interest Margin 3.03.54.04.5 median: 3.93 Jan 2017: 3.10 Repos Outstanding with Fed. Reserve BillionsofDollars 0200400600 median: 62.37 May 2017: 425.09 Bank ROE − Assets between $300M−$1B Percent 051015 median: 12.61 Jan 2017: 9.88 Consumer Credit Outstanding %YearlyChange −505101520 median: 7.40 Mar 2017: 5.98 Total Business Loans %YearlyChange −2001020 median: 8.62 Apr 2017: 2.55 US Nonperforming Loans 12345 median: 1.94 Jan 2017: 1.32 St. Louis Financial Stress Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −112345 median: −0.016 May 2017: −1.45 Commercial Paper Outstanding TrillionsofDollars 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1.01.41.82.2 median: 1.31 May 2017: 0.98 Residential Morgage Delinquency Rate 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 246810 median: 2.36 Oct 2016: 4.15 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 13
  • 14. US Charge-Off Indication A “charge-off” is an accounting declaration by a creditor that a particular debt is unlikely to be collected, either in whole or in part. Usually, the creditor is severely delinquent by the time this determina- tion is made. For credit card debt, as an example, this determination is usually made by the bank after six months without payment. However, there are charge-offs for a number of different kinds of loans and increasing charge-offs are an important barometer of the health of creditors. In this graph, the various charge-offs are presented as a percentage of total relevant debt outstanding. For example, credit card charge-offs as a percentage of total credit card debt owed by con- sumers. Charge−off Rates for Various Categories (Seasonally Adjusted) 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Percent 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0% 9.0% 10.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0% 9.0% 10.0% 3.56% 2.12% 0.47%0.39% 0.07%0.01% Credit Card Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 4.25%, last: 3.56%) Consumer Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 2.26%, last: 2.12%) All Loans − All Commercial Banks (median: 0.80%, last: 0.47%) Commercial and Industrial Loans (median: 0.66%, last: 0.39%) Single Family Residential Mortgages (median: 0.17%, last: 0.07%) Commercial Real Estate Loans (Ex− Farmland) (median: 0.16%, last: 0.01%) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 14
  • 15. US Employment Indicators Unemployment rates are considered the “single best indicator of current labour conditions” by the Fed. The pace of payroll growth is highly correlated with a number of economic indicators.Payroll changes are another way to track the change in unemployment rate. Unemployment only captures the percentage of people who are in the labour market who don’t currently have a job - another measure is what percentage of the whole population wants a job (employed or not) - this is the Participation Rate. The Beveridge Curve measures labour market efficiency by looking at the relationship between job openings and the unemployment rate. The curve slopes downward reflecting that higher rates of unemploy- ment occur coincidentally with lower levels of job vacancies. Unemployment Rate Percent 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 median: 6.10 Apr 2017: 4.40 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Percent Beveridge Curve Unemployment Rate HelpWantedIndex 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 11.0 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's Participation Rate PercentofPop. 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 6364656667 median: 66.00 Apr 2017: 62.90 Total Nonfarm Payroll Change MonthlyChange(000s) 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −5000500 median: 165.50 Apr 2017: 211 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 15
  • 16. There are a number of other ways to measure the health of employ- ment. The U6 Rate includes people who are part time that want a full-time job - they are employed but under-utilitized. Temporary help demand is another indicator of labour market tightness or slack. The large chart shows changes in private industry employment lev- els over the past year, versus how well those job segments typically pay. Lots of hiring in low paying jobs at the expense of higher paying jobs is generally bad, though perhaps not unsurprising in a recovery. Median Duration of Unemployment Weeks 510152025 median: 8.90 Apr 2017: 10.20 (U6) Unemployed + PT + Marginally Attached Percent 810121416 median: 9.70 Apr 2017: 8.60 4−week moving average of Initial Claims Jan1995=100 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 50100150200 median: 106.53 May 2017: 74.87 Unemployed over 27 weeks MillionsofPersons 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 01234567 median: 0.82 Apr 2017: 1.66 Services: Temp Help MillionsofPersons 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1.52.02.53.0 median: 2.29 Apr 2017: 3.01 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 15 20 25 30 35 40 Annual Change in Employment Levels (000s of Workers) Averagewages($/hour) Private Industry Employment Change (Apr 2016 − Apr 2017) Construction Durable Goods Education Financial Activities Health Services Information Leisure and Hospitality Manufacturing Mining and Logging Nondurable Goods Other Services Professional & Business Services Retail Trade Transportation Utilities Wholesale Trade Circle size relative to total employees in industry www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 16
  • 17. US Business Activity Indicators Business activity is split between manufacturing activity and non- manufacturing activity. We are focusing on forward looking business indicators like new order and inventory levels to give a sense of the current business environment. Manufacturing: Real Output YoYPercentChange −1001020 median: 7.83 Jan 2017: 2.84 Manufacturing − PMI 354045505560 Apr 2017: 52.80 manufac. expanding manufac. contracting Manufacturers' Durable Goods Orders BillionsofDollars 150200250 Mar 2017: 239.44 Increase in new orders Decrease in new orders Non−Manufac. New Orders: Capital Goods BillionsofDollars 40506070 median: 58.58 Mar 2017: 65.17 Average Weekly Hours: Manufacturing 3940414243 median: 41.20 Apr 2017: 41.80 Industrial Production: Manufacturing YoYPercentChange −15−50510 median: 2.86 Mar 2017: 0.98 Inventory to Sales Ratio Ratio 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1.11.21.31.41.51.6 median: 1.36 Mar 2017: 1.35 Chicago Fed: Sales, Orders & Inventory Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −0.50.00.5 Mar 2017: 0.07 Above ave growth Below ave growth Freight Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 95105115125 Mar 2017: 124.00 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 17
  • 18. S&P 500 Sentiment Analysis Sentiment analysis tries to determine the attitude of a speaker with respect to some topic or the overall contextual polarity of a document. In this particular case, we are evaluating earnings conference calls for the S&P 500 companies over the past 10 years. We use a proprietary sentiment mining model to determine the“sen- timent” from the transcripts of 18,382 conference calls. The object is to understand how the communication from executives on those con- ference calls changes over time. The model focuses on “relative sentiment” – the tone relative to the arbitrary date of January 2012. While it is not an exact science, the models do capture the significant negative sentiment in 2007-2008 and the subsequent recovery. −1000050010001500 Normalized Sentiment (Based on 18,382 Earnings Calls) SentimentValue(IndexJan2012=0) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 CD CD: +819 CS CS: +751 En En: +667 Fin Fin: +1027 HC HC: +688 Ind Ind: +822 IT IT: +733 Mat Mat: +841 RE RE: +761 Tel Tel: +955 Ut Ut: +856 (CD) Consumer Discretionary (CS) Consumer Staples (En) Energy (Fin) Financials (HC) Health Care (Ind) Industrials (IT) Information Technology (Mat) Materials (RE) Real Estate (Tel) Telecommunications Services (Ut) Utilities S&P 500 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing −1000100 Month over Month Sentiment Change − May 2017 +62 +45 +67 +143 +74 +157 +73 +33 +89 +70 +46 Consumer Discretionary Consumer Staples Energy Financials Health Care Industrials Information Technology Materials Real Estate Telecommunications Services Utilities www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 18
  • 19. S&P 500 Sentiment (n = 18,382) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−1.00 $0.00 $4.00 $9.00 $14.00 $19.00 $24.00 $29.00 $34.00 $39.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Consumer Discretionary (n = 3,040) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $0.00 $1.00 $3.00 $5.00 $7.00 $9.00 $11.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Consumer Staples (n = 1,368) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $5.00 $7.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Energy (n = 1,378) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−9.00 $−4.00 $0.00 $1.00 $6.00 $11.00 $16.00 $21.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Financials (n = 2,229) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−14.00 $−9.00 $−4.00 $0.00 $1.00 $6.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Health Care (n = 2,284) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $7.00 $9.00 $11.00 $13.00 $15.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 19
  • 20. Industrials (n = 2,383) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $3.00 $5.00 $7.00 $9.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Information Technology (n = 2,479) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $4.00 $6.00 $8.00 $10.00 $12.00 $14.00 $16.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Materials (n = 940) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−3.00 $−1.00 $0.00 $1.00 $3.00 $5.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Real Estate (n = 1,018) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−1.00 $−0.50 $0.00 $0.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Telecommunications Services (n = 257) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $−3.00 $−1.00 $0.00 $1.00 $3.00 $5.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) Utilities (n = 1,006) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 −1000 −500 0 500 1000 1500 $0.00 $2.00 $4.00 Sentiment Increasing Sentiment Decreasing Sentiment (LHS) Operating Earnings (RHS) S&P Estimates (RHS) www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 20
  • 21. US Consumption Indicators Variations in consumer activity are a leading indicator of the strength of the economy. We track consumer sentiment (their expec- tations about the future), consumer loan activity (indicator of new purchase activity), and new orders and sales of consumer goods. U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment Index1966Q1=100 5060708090110 median: 89.10 Apr 2017: 97.00 Consumer Loans (All banks) YoY%Change −10010203040 median: 7.62 Apr 2017: 5.78 Accounting Change Deliquency Rate on Consumer Loans Percentage 2.03.04.0 median: 3.42 Oct 2016: 2.15 New Orders: Durable Consumer Goods YoY%Change −20020 median: 4.33 Mar 2017: −1.28 New Orders: Non−durable Consumer Goods YoY%Change −2001020 median: 3.78 Mar 2017: 10.36 Personal Consumption & Housing Index Index −0.40.00.20.4 median: 0.02 Mar 2017: −0.05above ave growth below ave growth Light Cars and Trucks Sales MillionsofUnits 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 10121416182022 median: 14.91 Mar 2017: 16.53 Personal Saving Rate Percent 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 246810 median: 5.70 Mar 2017: 5.90 Retail Food and Service Sales YoY%Change(Real) 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −10−505 median: 2.43 Apr 2017: 2.21 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 21
  • 22. US Housing Housing construction is only about 5-8% of the US economy, how- ever a house is typically the largest asset owned by a household. Since personal consumption is about 70% of the US economy and house val- ues directly impact household wealth, housing is an important indicator in the health of the overall economy. In particular, housing investment was an important driver of the economy getting out of the last few recessions (though not this one so far). Here we track housing prices and especially indicators which show the current state of the housing market. 15 20 25 30 35 40 150200250300 Personal Income vs. Housing Prices (Inflation adjusted values) NewHomePrice(000's) Disposable Income Per Capita (000's) March 2017 r2 : 89.9% Range: Jan 1962 − Mar 2017 Blue dots > +5% change in next year Red dots < −5% change in next year New Housing Units Permits Authorized MillionsofUnits 0.51.01.52.02.5 median: 1.33 Mar 2017: 1.27 New Home Median Sale Price SalePrice$000's 100200300 Mar 2017: 315.10 Homeowner's Equity Level Percent 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4050607080 median: 66.50 Oct 2016: 57.80 New Homes: Median Months on the Market 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 468101214 median: 4.90 Mar 2017: 3.70 US Monthly Supply of Homes MonthsSupply 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4681012 median: 5.80 Mar 2017: 5.20 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 22
  • 23. US Housing - FHFA Quarterly Index The Federal Housing Finance Agency provides a quarterly survey on house prices, based on sales prices and appraisal data. This gener- ates a housing index for 355 municipal areas in the US from 1979 to present. We have provided an alternative view of this data looking at the change in prices from the peak in the 2007 time frame. The goal is to provide a sense of where the housing markets are weak versus strong.The colours represent gain or losses since the start of the housing crisis (defined as the maximum price between 2007-2009 for each city). The circled dots are the cities in the survey, while the background colours are interpolated from these points using a loess smoother. Change from 2007 Peak − Q2 2016 −50% −40% −30% −20% −10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Today's Home Prices Percentage Change from 2007−2009 Peak Frequency −75% −50% −25% 0% 25% 50% 75% Year over Year Change − Q2 2016 −10% −8% −6% −4% −2% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% YoY Change in this quarter YoY Percent Change Frequency −15% −10% −5% 0% 5% 10% 15% www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 23
  • 24. Global Business Indicators Global Manufacturing PMI Reports The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. An index read- ing of 50.0 means that business conditions are unchanged, a number over 50.0 indicates an improvement while anything below 50.0 suggests a decline. The further away from 50.0 the index is, the stronger the change over the month. The chart at the bottom shows a moving av- erage of a number of PMI’s, along with standard deviation bands to show a global average. Global M−PMI − April 2017 <40.0 42.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0 >60.0 Steady ExpandingContracting Eurozone 56.7 Global PMI 52.8 TWN 54.4MEX 50.7 KOR 49.4 JPN 52.7 VNM 54.1 IDN 51.2 ZAF 50.3 AUS 59.2 BRA 50.1 CAN 55.9 CHN 50.3 IND 52.5 RUS 50.8 SAU 56.5 USA 52.8 Global M−PMI Monthly Change <−5.0 −4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0 PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating Eurozone 0.5 Global PMI −0.2 TWN −1.8MEX −0.8 KOR 1.0 JPN 0.3 VNM −0.5 IDN 0.7 ZAF −0.4 AUS 1.7 BRA 0.5 CAN 0.4 CHN −0.9 IND 0.0 RUS −1.6 SAU 0.1 USA −0.5 Purchase Managers Index (Manufacturing) − China, Japan, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Australia 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 3040506070 3040506070 Business Conditions Contracting Business Conditions Expanding www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 24
  • 25. Global Manufacturing PMI Chart This is an alternate view of the global PMI reports. Here, we look at all the various PMI data series in a single chart and watch their evolution over time. Red numbers indicate contraction (as estimated by PMI) while green numbers indicate expansion. Apr15 May15 Jun15 Jul15 Aug15 Sep15 Oct15 Nov15 Dec15 Jan16 Feb16 Mar16 Apr16 May16 Jun16 Jul16 Aug16 Sep16 Oct16 Nov16 Dec16 Jan17 Feb17 Mar17 Apr17 Australia India Indonesia Viet Nam Taiwan China South Korea Japan South Africa Saudi Arabia Turkey Russia UK Greece Germany France Italy Czech Republic Spain Poland Ireland Netherlands Eurozone Brazil Mexico Canada USA Global PMI 51.0 51.2 51.0 51.0 50.7 50.7 51.3 51.2 50.7 50.9 50.0 50.6 50.1 50.0 50.4 51.0 50.8 51.0 52.0 52.1 52.7 52.7 53.0 53.0 52.8 54.1 54.0 53.6 53.8 53.0 53.1 54.1 52.8 51.2 52.4 51.3 51.5 50.8 50.7 51.3 52.9 52.0 51.5 53.4 54.1 54.3 55.0 54.2 53.3 52.8 49.0 49.8 51.3 50.8 49.4 48.6 48.0 48.6 47.5 49.3 49.4 51.5 52.2 52.1 51.8 51.9 51.1 50.3 51.1 51.5 51.8 53.5 54.7 55.5 55.9 53.8 53.3 52.0 52.9 52.4 52.1 53.0 53.0 52.4 52.2 53.1 53.2 52.4 53.6 51.1 50.6 50.9 51.9 51.8 51.1 50.2 50.8 50.6 51.5 50.7 46.0 45.9 46.5 47.2 45.8 47.0 44.1 43.8 45.6 47.4 44.5 46.0 42.6 41.6 43.2 46.0 45.7 46.0 46.3 46.2 45.2 44.0 46.9 49.6 50.1 52.0 52.2 52.5 52.4 52.3 52.0 52.3 52.8 53.2 52.3 51.2 51.6 51.7 51.5 52.8 52.0 51.7 52.6 53.5 53.7 54.9 55.2 55.4 56.2 56.7 54.0 55.5 56.2 56.0 53.9 53.0 53.7 53.5 53.4 52.4 51.7 53.6 52.6 52.7 52.0 53.2 53.5 53.4 55.7 57.0 57.3 56.5 58.3 57.8 57.8 55.8 57.1 54.6 56.7 53.6 53.8 53.6 53.3 54.2 54.3 52.9 54.9 52.6 51.5 53.0 50.2 51.7 51.3 52.1 53.7 55.7 55.5 53.8 53.6 55.0 54.0 52.4 54.3 54.5 51.1 50.9 52.2 52.1 52.1 50.9 52.8 53.8 51.0 52.1 51.8 50.3 51.5 52.2 50.2 51.9 54.3 54.8 54.2 53.5 54.1 54.2 55.8 54.5 53.6 53.2 51.7 51.3 53.1 53.0 55.4 54.1 53.4 53.5 51.8 52.2 51.0 51.0 52.3 53.3 54.5 55.3 55.6 54.8 53.9 54.5 54.7 55.5 56.9 57.5 56.6 55.5 54.0 54.2 55.6 56.9 55.5 54.3 53.6 53.3 51.8 49.3 50.1 52.0 53.3 52.2 53.8 55.7 57.6 57.5 57.5 53.8 54.8 54.1 55.3 53.8 52.7 54.1 54.9 55.6 53.2 52.2 53.5 53.9 52.4 53.5 51.2 49.8 51.0 50.9 52.2 53.2 53.0 55.0 55.7 56.2 48.0 49.4 50.7 49.6 48.3 50.6 50.6 50.6 51.4 50.0 50.2 49.6 48.0 48.4 48.3 48.6 48.3 49.7 51.8 51.7 53.5 53.6 52.2 53.3 55.1 52.1 51.1 51.9 51.8 53.3 52.3 52.1 52.9 53.2 52.3 50.5 50.7 51.8 52.1 54.5 53.8 53.6 54.3 55.0 54.3 55.6 56.4 56.8 58.3 58.2 46.5 48.0 46.9 30.2 39.1 43.3 47.3 48.1 50.2 50.0 48.4 49.0 49.7 48.4 50.4 48.7 50.4 49.2 48.6 48.3 49.3 46.6 47.7 46.7 48.2 51.9 52.0 51.4 51.9 51.6 51.8 55.5 52.7 51.9 52.9 50.8 50.7 49.2 50.1 52.1 48.2 53.3 55.4 54.2 53.4 56.1 55.7 54.6 54.2 57.3 48.9 47.6 48.7 48.3 47.9 49.1 50.2 50.1 48.7 49.8 49.3 48.3 48.0 49.6 51.5 49.5 50.8 51.1 52.4 53.6 53.7 54.7 52.5 52.4 50.8 48.5 50.2 49.0 50.1 49.3 48.0 49.5 50.9 52.2 50.9 50.3 49.2 48.9 49.4 47.4 47.6 47.0 48.3 49.8 48.8 47.7 48.7 49.7 52.3 51.7 58.3 57.0 56.1 57.5 58.7 56.5 55.7 56.3 54.4 53.9 54.4 54.5 54.2 54.8 54.4 56.0 56.6 55.3 53.2 55.0 55.5 56.7 57.0 56.4 56.5 51.5 50.1 49.2 48.9 49.3 47.9 47.5 49.6 49.1 49.6 49.1 47.0 47.9 50.2 49.6 49.9 49.8 50.7 50.5 50.8 51.6 51.3 50.5 50.7 50.3 49.9 50.9 50.1 51.2 51.7 51.0 52.4 52.6 52.6 52.3 50.1 49.1 48.2 47.7 48.1 49.3 49.5 50.4 51.4 51.3 52.4 52.7 53.3 52.4 52.7 48.8 47.8 46.1 47.6 47.9 49.2 49.1 49.1 50.7 49.5 48.7 49.5 50.0 50.1 50.5 50.1 48.6 47.6 48.0 48.0 49.4 49.0 49.2 48.4 49.4 48.9 49.2 49.4 47.8 47.3 47.2 48.3 48.6 48.2 48.4 48.0 49.7 49.4 49.2 48.6 50.6 50.0 50.1 51.2 50.9 51.9 51.0 51.7 51.2 50.3 49.2 49.3 46.3 47.1 46.1 46.9 47.8 49.5 51.7 50.6 49.4 51.1 49.7 48.5 50.5 51.0 51.8 52.2 52.7 54.7 56.2 55.6 54.5 56.2 54.4 53.5 54.8 52.2 52.6 51.3 49.5 50.1 49.4 51.3 51.5 50.3 50.7 52.3 52.7 52.6 51.9 52.2 52.9 51.7 54.0 52.4 51.9 54.2 54.6 54.1 46.7 47.1 47.8 47.3 48.4 47.4 47.8 46.9 47.8 48.9 48.7 50.6 50.9 50.6 51.9 48.4 50.4 50.9 48.7 49.7 49.0 50.4 49.3 50.5 51.2 51.3 52.6 51.3 52.7 52.3 51.2 50.7 50.3 49.1 51.1 51.1 52.4 50.5 50.7 51.7 51.8 52.6 52.1 54.4 52.3 49.6 50.4 50.7 52.5 52.5 48.0 52.3 44.2 50.4 51.7 52.1 50.2 52.5 51.9 51.5 53.5 58.1 53.4 51.0 51.8 56.4 46.9 49.8 50.5 54.2 55.4 51.2 59.3 57.5 59.2 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 25
  • 26. Global Trade/Export Metrics The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis pub- lishes the World Trade Monitor. The WTM summarizes worldwide monthly data on international trade and production. Data is from a variety of sources, which are normalized into a set of indexed curves which show trends in world trade. World Imports and Exports Index:2010=100 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 708090100110120 Exports Imports World Exports by Region Index:2010=100 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 60708090100110120130 USA Japan Euro Area Latin America Africa & Middle East Emerging Asia www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 26
  • 27. Canadian Indicators Retail Trade (SA) YoYPercentChange −50510 median: 4.75 Feb 2017: 4.65 Total Manufacturing Sales Growth YoYPercentGrowth −20−1001020 median: 3.56 Feb 2017: 6.81 Manufacturing New Orders Growth YoYPercentGrowth −30−100102030 median: 4.01 Feb 2017: 12.58 1yr vs. 10yr Canada Bond Yields Yield(Percent) 0246810 median: 5.54 Apr 2017: 1.48 10 yr bond 1 yr bond Manufacturing PMI 4850525456 Apr 2017: 55.90 Sales and New Orders (SA) YoYPercentChange −20−1001020 Sales New Orders (smoothed) Tbill Yield Spread (10 yr − 3mo) Spread(Percent) 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −101234 median: 1.28 Apr 2017: 0.96 Inflation (total and core) YoYPercentChange 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −101234 median: 1.85 Mar 2017: 1.56 All Items Ex Food & Energy Inventory to Sales Ratio (SA) Ratio 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1.31.41.51.6 median: 1.35 Feb 2017: 1.34 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 27
  • 28. 6.6 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.4 7.6 1.21.31.41.51.61.71.81.9 Beveridge Curve (Mar 2011 − Jan 2017) as.numeric(can.bev$ui.rate) as.numeric(can.bev$vacancies) Mar 2011 − Dec 2012 Jan 2013 − Dec 2016 Jan 2017 Unemployment Rate JobVacancyrate(Industrial) Ownership/Rental Price Ratio RatioofAccomodationOwnership/RentRatio 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 90100110120130140150 Calgary Montreal Vancouver Toronto Note: Using prices relative to 2002 as base year Ownership relatively more expensive vs 2002 Rent relatively more expensive vs 2002 Unemployment Rate (SA) Percent 345678910 Canada 6.5% Alberta 7.9% Ontario 5.8% Debt Service Ratios (SA) Percent 0246810 Total Debt: 6.1% Mortgage: 3.0% Consumer Debt: 6.3% Housing Starts and Building Permits (smoothed) YoYPercentChange 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −40−2002040 Permits Starts www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 28
  • 29. European Indicators Unemployment Rates Percentage 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 051015202530 FR DE GB IT GR ES EU Business Employment Expectations Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −40−20010 Industrial Orderbook Levels Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −60−40−20020 Country Employment Expect. Unempl. (%) Bond Yields (%) Retail Turnover Manufacturing Turnover Inflation (YoY %) Industry Order- book PMI Series Dates Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Mar 2017 Mar 2017 Apr 2017 Apr 2017 France -4.2 J 10.1 K 0.88 J 115.7 I 109.6 I 1.4 K -8.3 I 55.1 I Germany 6.8 I 3.9 K 0.22 J NA 118.1 J 1.5 J 2.7 I 58.2 J United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland 1.6 J 4.5 J 1.00 J 119.0 J NA 2.3 K 5.9 J 57.3 I Italy 4.7 I 11.7 I 2.26 J 102.4 J NA 1.4 J -5.7 I 56.2 I Greece -2.0 J 23.5 K 6.70 J NA NA 1.7 I -23.6 J 48.2 I Spain 7.7 I 18.2 K 1.61 J NA NA 2.1 J 1.3 I 54.5 I Eurozone (EU28) 5.0 I 8.0 J 1.32 J 113.1 J 115.5 K 1.6 -2.2 I NA www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 29
  • 30. Government Bond YieldsLongTermYields% 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0246810 Economic Sentiment Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 60708090110130 Consumer Confidence Index 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −100−60−20020 Inflation (Harmonized Prices) 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 median: 1.90 Mar 2017: 1.50 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harmonized Inflation: Feb 2017 AUT 2.2% BGR 1.0% DEU 1.5% ESP 2.1% FIN 0.9% FRA 1.4% GBR 2.3% GRC 1.7% HRV 1.1% HUN 2.7% IRL 0.6% ISL −1.4% ITA 1.4% NOR 2.5% POL 1.8% ROU 0.4% SWE 1.4% <−1.0%0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% >7.0% YoY % Change in Prices PMI: April 2017 <40.042.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0>60.0 Steady ExpandingContracting BRA 50.1 CAN 55.9 DEU 58.2 ESP 54.5 FRA 55.1 GBR 57.3 GRC 48.2 IRL 55.0 ITA 56.2 MEX 50.7 POL 54.1 SAU 56.5 TUR 51.7 USA 52.8 RUS 50.8 PMI Change: Mar − Apr <−5.0−4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0 PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating CAN 0.4 DEU −0.1 ESP 0.6 FRA 1.8 GBR 3.1 GRC 1.5 IRL 1.4 ITA 0.5 POL 0.6 TUR −0.6 USA −0.5 RUS −1.6 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 30
  • 31. Chinese Indicators Tracking the Chinese economy is a tricky. As reported in the Fi- nancial Times, Premier Li Keqiang confided to US officials in 2007 that gross domestic product was “man made” and “for reference only”. In- stead, he suggested that it was much more useful to focus on three alter- native indicators: electricity consumption, rail cargo volumes and bank lending (still tracking down that last one). We also include the PMI - which is an official version put out by the Chinese government and differs slightly from an HSBC version. Finally we include the Shanghai Composite Index as a measure of stock performance. Manufacturing PMI 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4045505560 Apr 2017: 50.30 Shanghai Composite Index IndexValue(MonthlyHigh/Low) 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 0100030005000 May 2017: 3083.51 Electricity Generated 100MillionKWH(logscale) 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1000200030005000 Mar 2017: 5169.00 Electricity Generated Long Term Trend Short Term Average Consumer Confidence Index Index 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 100105110 median: 104.10 Mar 2017: 111.00 Exports YoYPercentChange 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 −20020406080 median: 17.75 Apr 2017: 8.00 Retail Sales Growth YoYPercentChange 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 101520 median: 12.60 Apr 2017: 10.70 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 31
  • 32. Global Climate Data Temperature and precipitation data are taken from the US National Climatic Data Center and presented as the average monthly anomaly from the previous 6 months. Anomalies are defined as the difference from the average value over the period from 1971-2000 for the tem- perature map and over the 20th century for the global temparature chart. Average Temperature Anomalies from Oct 2016 - Mar 2017 <−4.0 −3.0 −2.0 −1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 >4.0 Anomalies in Celsius WarmerCooler Anomalies in Celcius −4 −2 0 2 4 Historic Global Temperature Deviations DegreesCelsiusDeviations −0.50.00.51.0 Dec 2016: 0.79 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 32
  • 33. Subscription Info The Global Economics Report is published by Laird Research Inc. To sign up for a FREE subscription to this report, please visit our website: LairdResearch.com. Comments or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Disclaimer: This document has been prepared in good faith on the basis of information available at the date of publication without any independent verification. Laird Research Inc. collects its data from public sources which it believes to be accurate, however it does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, reliability, completeness or currency of the information in this publication nor its usefulness in achieving any purpose. Readers are responsible for assessing the relevance and accuracy of the content of this publication. Laird Research Inc. will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising by reason of any person using or relying on information in this publication. Copyright: This publication is Copyright ©2017 by Laird Research Inc. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced in any form without written permission from Laird Research Inc. Note that the data provided herein is collected from publicly available sources, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and government releases, and any copyright to that data belongs to the owners. www.lairdresearch.com May 16, 2017 Page 33