North America   Q3 US Growth Again Revised Higher (+2.1% versus +1.9%) on higher inventories, with other changes insignificant and offsetting. Payrolls crushed glum predictions, growing at +266,000 for November with a positive revision for October.  The ending of the GM strike (41,300 workers) which depressed last month’s number boosted…

Tangled Trade Tensions    makes headlines but political noise gets in the way of understanding its impact. Per the NY Fed’s blog (libertystreeteconomics.com) on November 25th, import prices on Chinese goods are slightly lower (-2% on average) since the first additional tariffs were imposed in July 2018.  As a reminder,…

During the month of November, the top 3 performing sectors were: Softs (6.39%), Indices (3.88%) and the S&P 500 (3.40%). Equity markets reached all time highs as indices saw continual growth and a slight relief from damaging news. The bottom 3 sectors were: Energies (-2.19%), Metals (-2.10%) and Currencies (-1.53%).…

During the month of October, the top 3 performing sectors were: Metals (4.78%), Livestock (3.37%) and Grains (2.94%). Palladium, platinum and silver led the way in metals, live cattle led the way in livestock, and natural gas was up 13% as more cold weather approaches. The bottom 3 sectors were:…