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Laird Research - Economics
January 11, 2015
Where we are now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Indicators for US Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Global Financial Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
US Key Interest Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
US Inļ¬‚ation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
QE Taper Tracker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Exchange Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
US Banking Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
US Employment Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
US Business Activity Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
US Consumption Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
US Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Global Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Canadian Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
European Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chinese Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Global Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Where we are now
Welcome to the Laird Report. We present a selection economic data
from around the world to help ļ¬gure where we are today.
In theory, this is the best of times in North America. Unemploy-
ment is dropping like a stone, inļ¬‚ation is low, oil prices cracked in half
and companies are reporting a general increase in tone across the board
(assuming you arenā€™t an oil services company). Canada seems okay, de-
spite the fears over housing prices and Western Canada is bracing for
mass layoļ¬€s in the next few months as oil prices have cracked.
Thereā€™s a real feeling of anxiousness across the globe. Despite all the
debt that governments have taken on to help their economies and the
risks from slowdowns in major markets like Europe and China, interest
rates are at all time lows - if you look at interest rates as indicators
of risk, then you will have a hard time making these two pictures ļ¬t
together.
Perhaps the strangest thing is (the lack of) inļ¬‚ation. Certainly there
is the standard chorus that ā€œthe government is lyingā€ however even 3rd
party sources like TheBillionPricesProject at MIT are showing that
the CPI isnā€™t far oļ¬€ the mark in the US and elsewhere. As much as we
look at core CPI and PCE to ignore the price swings of oil and food
- new oil prices are very helpful to consumers. See page 25 - Europe
is essentially in deļ¬‚ation, even with employment high (though improv-
ing). Itā€™s like stagļ¬‚ationā€™s evil twin brother - deļ¬‚ation actually makes
debt loads worse. And its not like the usual government level of interest
rates is helpful here - everyone is already close to zero. It just doesnā€™t
make any sense.
Formatting Notes The grey bars on the various charts are OECD
recession indicators for the respective countries. In many cases, the last
available value is listed, along with the median value (measured from
as much of the data series as is available).
Subscription Info For a FREE subscription to this monthly re-
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Laird Research, January 11, 2015
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 Fedā€™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; new order and housing per-
mit indicies; delivery timings (longer timings imply more demand in
the system) and consumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about
their own ļ¬nancial situation and the economy in general).
Leading Index for the US
Index:Est.6monthgrowth
āˆ’3āˆ’11234
median: 1.41
Nov 2014: 1.71
Growth
Contraction
Initial Unemployment Claims
1000'sofClaimsperWeek
200400600
median: 351.25
Jan 2015: 290.50
Manufacturing Ave. Weekly Hours Worked
Hours
394041424344
median: 40.60
Dec 2014: 42.20
ISM Manfacturing āˆ’ PMI
Index:SteadyState=50
3040506070
median: 53.40
Dec 2014: 55.50
expanding economy
contracting economy
Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
BillionsofDollars
150200250300
median: 183.11
Nov 2014: 241.56
ISM Manufacturing: Supplier Deliveries
Index
40506070
median: 51.65
Dec 2014: 59.30
Slower Deliveries
Faster Deliveries
Capex (ex. Defense & Planes)
Percentchange(3months)
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’10āˆ’505
median: 0.86
Nov 2014: āˆ’0.98
Chicago Fed National Activity Index
IndexValue
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’4āˆ’202
median: 0.08
Nov 2014: 0.73
U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment
Index1966Q1=100
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
507090110
median: 88.30
Dec 2014: 93.60
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 2
Global Financial Markets
Global Stock Market Returns
Country Index Name Close Date Current
Value
Weekly
Change
Monthly
Change
3 month
Change
Yearly
Change
Corr to
S&P500
Corr to
TSX
North America
USA S&P 500 Jan 09 2,044.8 -0.7% J -0.7% J 6.0% I 11.2% I 1.00 0.73
USA NASDAQ Composite Jan 09 4,704.1 -0.5% J -1.3% J 7.4% I 13.2% I 0.94 0.68
USA Wilshire 5000 Total Market Jan 09 21,497.1 -0.8% J -0.2% J 6.2% I 9.6% I 0.99 0.75
Canada S&P TSX Jan 09 14,384.9 -2.5% J 1.3% I -0.5% J 5.5% I 0.73 1.00
Europe and Russia
France CAC 40 Jan 09 4,179.1 -1.7% J -2.0% J 0.9% I -1.1% J 0.59 0.48
Germany DAX Jan 09 9,648.5 -1.2% J -1.5% J 7.1% I 2.4% I 0.55 0.43
United Kingdom FTSE Jan 09 6,501.1 -0.7% J -0.4% J 1.1% I -2.8% J 0.59 0.51
Russia Market Vectors Russia ETF Jan 09 15.2 2.8% I -9.7% J -26.6% J -41.6% J 0.35 0.39
Asia
Taiwan TSEC weighted index Jan 09 9,215.6 -1.0% J 0.9% I 2.8% I 8.2% I 0.25 0.12
China Shanghai Composite Index Jan 06 3,351.4 5.9% I 11.0% I 40.7% I 63.8% I -0.09 -0.24
Japan NIKKEI 225 Jan 09 17,197.7 -1.5% J -3.5% J 11.1% I 8.3% I 0.07 0.00
Hong Kong Hang Seng Jan 09 23,920.0 0.3% I 1.8% I 1.6% I 5.0% I 0.18 0.03
Korea Kospi Jan 09 1,924.7 -0.1% J -2.3% J -0.8% J -1.1% J 0.19 0.10
South Asia and Austrailia
India Bombay Stock Exchange Jan 09 27,458.4 -1.5% J -1.2% J 3.1% I 32.6% I 0.28 0.19
Indonesia Jakarta Jan 09 5,216.7 -0.5% J 1.8% I 4.5% I 24.2% I 0.02 -0.02
Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Jan 09 1,732.4 -1.2% J -0.3% J -5.3% J -5.2% J 0.42 0.23
Australia All Ordinaries Jan 09 5,440.1 0.5% I 3.5% I 2.8% I 2.1% I 0.14 0.07
New Zealand NZX 50 Index Gross Jan 09 5,584.8 0.3% I 0.8% I 6.1% I 14.8% I 0.15 0.08
South America
Brasil IBOVESPA Jan 09 48,840.0 0.7% I -2.7% J -14.7% J -1.0% J 0.31 0.37
Argentina MERVAL Buenos Aires Jan 09 8,459.6 -2.4% J -4.8% J -17.1% J 57.4% I 0.45 0.46
Mexico Bolsa index Jan 09 42,382.4 0.6% I 0.1% I -3.9% J 1.9% I 0.64 0.47
MENA and Africa
Egypt Market Vectors Egypt ETF Jan 09 58.9 0.4% I -6.8% J -12.6% J 10.6% I 0.33 0.08
(Gulf States) Market Vectors Gulf States ETF Jan 09 26.2 -0.0% J -3.7% J -19.1% J -2.6% J 0.47 0.30
South Africa iShares MSCI South Africa Index Jan 09 65.5 3.1% I 3.4% I 3.5% I 10.8% I 0.64 0.51
(Africa) Market Vectors Africa ETF Jan 09 25.7 -1.3% J -1.3% J -13.0% J -12.0% J 0.54 0.49
Commodities
USD Spot Oil West Texas Int. Jan 05 $50.0 -6.4% J -24.0% J -44.6% J -46.3% J 0.19 0.45
USD Gold LME Spot Jan 09 $1,211.2 2.3% I 0.4% I -1.3% J -1.2% J -0.06 -0.06
Note: Correlations are based on daily arithmetic returns for the most recent 100 trading days.
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 3
S&P 500 Composite Index
The S&P 500 Composite Index is widely regarded as the best single
gauge of the large cap U.S. equities market. A key ļ¬gure is the valua-
tion level of the S&P500 as measured by the Price/Earnings ratio. We
present two versions: (1) a 12-month trailing earnings version which
reļ¬‚ects current earnings but is skewed by short term variances and (2)
a cyclically adjusted version which looks at the inļ¬‚ation adjusted earn-
ings over a 10 year period (i.e. at least one business cycle). Forecasted
earnings numbers are estimates provided by S&P.
S&P 500 Profit Margins and Overall Corporate Profit Margins (Trailing 12 months)
Percent
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Percent
Total Corporate Profits (% of GDP) āˆ’ median: 6.2%, Q3/14: 10.8%
Net Profit Margin (S&P 500 Earnings / Revenue) āˆ’ median: 6.6%, Q3/14: 9.2%
S&P Quarterly Earnings (USD$ 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
āˆ’5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
āˆ’5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
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
0
10
20
30
40
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
Multiple
Multiple
12āˆ’month P/E ( median = 17.4, Jan = 18.1)
10āˆ’year CAPE ( median = 19.4, Jan = 25.1)
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 4
S&P 500 Composite Distributions
This is a view of the price performance of the S&P 500 index com-
panies. The area of each box is proportional to the companyā€™s market
cap, while the colour is determined by the percentage change in price
over the past month. In addition, companies are sorted according to
their industry group.
AAPL
āˆ’2.7%
MSFT
āˆ’2.9%
GOOG
āˆ’7%
FB
3.5%
ORCL
3.1%
INTC
āˆ’1.1%
V
0.92%
IBM
āˆ’1.5%
CSCO
0.72%
QCOM
3.7%
MA
EMC
ACN
TXN
MU
NFLX
EA
CA
BRKāˆ’A
0.97%
WFC
āˆ’2.1%
JPM
āˆ’1.1%
BAC
1.4%
C
AXP
GS
USB
AIG
MS
SPG BLK
MET
BK
AMT
TRV
BEN
STT
ALL
AFL ICE
CB
AVB
VTR
PLD
STI WY
HST
HIG
IVZ
L
RF
JNJ
āˆ’2.9%
PFE
4.4%
MRK
4.1%
GILD
1.7%
AMGN
ABBV
BMY
UNH BIIB
LLY MDT
ACT
ABT
AGN
ESRX
TMO BAX
ALXN
SYK
AET
CI
BDX
ZTS
MYL
BSX
STJ DVA
A
DIS
3%
CMCSA
āˆ’0.55%
HD
AMZN
āˆ’8.9%
MCD
NKE
FOXA
TWX
LOW
F
GM
TGT
TJX
DTV
TWC LB
M
CMG
DLPH
GPS
UA
WMT
4.2%
PG
KO
PEP
āˆ’2.2%
PM
āˆ’4.4%
CVS
8.6%
MO
0.6%
WBA CL KR
GIS
ADM
EL
K
LO
GE
āˆ’7.6%
UTX
MMM
2.2%
UNP
UPS
BA
LMT
CAT
GD
RTN
PCP
NSC
ETN
NOC
GLW
DE
LUV
CMI
WM
IR
XOM
āˆ’0.27%
CVX
āˆ’3.2% SLB
āˆ’4.3%
COP
OXY
KMI
PSX
HAL
NOV
VLO
BHI
DVN
APA
SE
HES
PXD
DD
MON
DOW
LYB
PX
ECL
SHW
IP
AA
CF
DUK
NEE
SO
D ED
VZ
āˆ’6.5%
T
āˆ’4.7%
Information Technology Financials
Health Care
Consumer Discretionary
Consumer Staples
Industrials
Energy Materials
Utilities
Telecommunications
Services
<āˆ’25.0% āˆ’20.0% āˆ’15.0% āˆ’10.0% āˆ’5.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% >25.0%
% Change in Price from Dec 1, 2014 to Jan 9, 2015
Average Median Median Median
Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E
Utilities 3.8% I 1.7 1.8 20.1
Health Care 1.6% I 3.4 4.2 25.9
Consumer Staples 1.1% I 2.1 5.7 23.4
Consumer Discretionary 0.5% I 1.6 4.4 20.9
Materials 0.2% I 1.7 3.8 23.4
Average Median Median Median
Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E
Financials 0.2% I 3.1 1.6 18.1
Industrials -0.7% J 1.7 3.4 19.8
Information Technology -0.9% J 3.4 4.0 21.2
Energy -3.3% J 1.4 1.4 11.8
Telecommunications Services -5.8% J 1.4 4.4 29.9
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 5
US Equity Valuations
A key valuation metric is Tobinā€™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 Buļ¬€et famously
follows stock market value as a percentage of GNP, which is highly
(93%) correlated to Tobinā€™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 BAA rated
securities as a proxy) and equity premiums above the risk free rate (10
year US Treasuries). These ļ¬gures 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
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 = 0.75, Sep = 1.09)
S&P 500 Price/Sales (median = 1.32, Sep = 1.73)
Equity and Debt Risk Premiums: Spread vs. Risk Free Rate (10āˆ’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
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
Implied Equity Premium (median = 4.2%, Dec = 4.9%)
Debt (BAA) Premium (median = 2.0%, Dec = 2.6%)
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 6
US Mutual Fund Flows
Fund ļ¬‚ows describe the net investments in equity and bond mutual
funds in the US market, as described in ICIā€™s ā€œTrends in Mutual Fund
Investingā€ report. Note however that this is only part of the story as
it does not include ETF fund ļ¬‚ows - part of the changes are investors
entering or leaving the market, and part is investors shifting to ETFā€™s
from mutual funds.
US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds
US$billions(monthly)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
āˆ’40āˆ’2002040
Domestic Equity
World Equity
Taxable Bonds
Municipal Bonds
US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds
US$billions(Monthly)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
āˆ’60āˆ’40āˆ’200204060
Flows to Equity
Flows to Bonds
Net Market Flows
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 7
US Key Interest Rates
Interest rates are often leading indicators of stress in the ļ¬nancial
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 BAA bonds) or between government loans (LIBOR vs
Fedfunds - the infamous ā€œTED Spreadā€). Here a spike correlates to an
aversion to risk, which is an indication that something bad is happen-
ing.
US Treasury Yield Curves
ForwardInstantaneousRates(%)
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0Jan 8, 2015 (Today)
Dec 8, 2014 (1 mo ago)
Oct 8, 2014 (3 mo ago)
08 Jan 2014 (1 yr ago)
3 Month & 10 Yr Treasury Yields
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
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. BAA Bond Spreads
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
Percent
AAA
BAA
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
median: 91.00
Jan 2015: 96.00
0
100
200
300
0
100
200
300
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 tāˆ’bill
LIBOR
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
median: 36.62
Jan 2015: 22.56
0
100
200
300
0
100
200
300
Spread(bps)
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 8
US Inļ¬‚ation
Generally, the US Fed tries to anchor long run inļ¬‚ation expectations
to approximately 2%. Inļ¬‚ation 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 inļ¬‚ation (usually called
Core Inļ¬‚ation). The Fed seems to think PCI more accurately reļ¬‚ects
the entire basket of goods and services that households purchase.
Finally, we can make a reasonable estimate of future inļ¬‚ation ex-
pectations by comparing real return and normal bonds to construct an
imputed forward inļ¬‚ation expectation. The 5y5y chart shows expected
5 year inļ¬‚ation rates at a point 5 years in the future. Neat trick that.
Consumer Price Index
Percent
84
85
86
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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
āˆ’1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
āˆ’1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
US Inflation Rate YoY% (Nov = 1.3%)
US Inflation ex Food & Energy YoY% (Nov = 1.7%)
Personal Consumption Expenditures
Percent(YearoverYear)
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’10123456
PCE Inflation Rate YoY% (Nov = 1.2%)
PCE Core Inflation YoY% (Nov = 1.4%)
5āˆ’Year, 5āˆ’Year Forward Inflation Expectation Rate
Percent
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
āˆ’10123456
5 year forward Inflation Expectation
Actual 5yr Inflation (CPI measure)
Actual 5yr Inflation (PCE Measure)
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 9
QE Taper Tracker
The US has been using the program of Quantitative Easing to pro-
vide monetary stimulous to its economy. The Fed has engaged in a
series of programs (QE1, QE2 & QE3) designed to drive down long
term rates and improve liquidity though purchases of treasuries, mor-
gage backed securites and other debt from banks.
The higher demand for long maturity securities would drive up their
price, but as these securities have a ļ¬xed coupon, their yield would be
decreased (yield ā‰ˆ coupon / price) thus driving down long term rates.
In 2011-2012, ā€œOperation Twistā€ attempted to reduce rates without
increasing liquidity. They went back to QE in 2013.
The Fed chairman suggested in June 2013 the economy was recover-
ing enough that they could start slowing down purchases (ā€œtaperingā€).
The Fed backed oļ¬€ after a brief market panic. The Fed announced in
Dec 2013 that it was starting the taper, a decision partly driven by
seeing key targets of inļ¬‚ation around 2% and unemployment being less
than 6.5%. In Oct 2014, they announced the end of purchases.
QE Asset Purchases to Date (Treasury & Mortgage Backed Securities)
Trillions
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
QE1 QE2 Operation Twist QE3 TaperTreasuries
Mortgage Backed Securities
Total Monthly Asset Purchases (Treasury + Mortgage Backed Securities)
Billions
āˆ’100
āˆ’50
0
50
100
150
200
āˆ’100
āˆ’50
0
50
100
150
200
Month to date Jan 07: $āˆ’0.1
Inflation and Unemployment āˆ’ Relative to Targets
Percent
0
2
4
6
8
10
0
2
4
6
8
10
Target Unemployment 6.5%
Target Inflation 2%
U.S. 10 Year and 3 Month Treasury Constant Maturity Yields
Percent
0
1
2
3
4
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Short Term Rates:
Once at zero, Fed moved to QE
Long Term Rates:
Moving up in anticipation of Taper?
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 10
Exchange Rates
10 Week Moving Average CAD Exchange Rates
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
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
0.590.981.361.742.122.51
Brazil/CAD
CAD Appreciating
CAD Depreciating
Change in F/X: Dec 1 2014 to Jan 2 2015
(Trade Weighted Currency Index of USD Trading Partners)
āˆ’3.0%
āˆ’1.5%
1.5%
3.0%
Euro
1.1%
UK
āˆ’0.4%
Japan
āˆ’1.1%
South Korea
āˆ’3.2%
China
āˆ’1.9%
India
āˆ’0.7%
Brazil
2.3%
Mexico
3.3%
Canada
0.5%
USA
2.9%
Country vs. Average
Appreciating
Depreciating
% Change over 3 months vs. Canada
<āˆ’10.0% āˆ’8.0% āˆ’6.0% āˆ’4.0% āˆ’2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% >10.0%
CAD depreciatingCAD appreciating
ARG
4.9%
AUS
āˆ’1.8%
BRA
āˆ’4.5%
CHN
6.6%
IND
4.2%
RUS
āˆ’30.3%
USA
6.5%
EUR
āˆ’1.2%
JPY
āˆ’3.6%
KRW
4.4%
MXN
āˆ’3.0%
ZAR
1.8%
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 11
US Banking Indicators
The banking and ļ¬nance 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 ļ¬gures to track are the
Net Interest Margins which determine proļ¬tability (ie. the diļ¬€erence
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
Percent
3.54.04.5
median: 3.95
2014 Q3: 3.09
Repos Outstanding with Fed. Reserve
BillionsofDollars
0100300500
median: 54.19
Jan 2015: 241.44
Bank ROE āˆ’ Assets between $300Māˆ’$1B
Percent
051015
median: 12.83
2014 Q3: 9.57
Consumer Credit Outstanding
%YearlyChange
āˆ’505101520
median: 7.68
Nov 2014: 7.00
Total Business Loans
%YearlyChange
āˆ’2001020 median: 8.54
Dec 2014: 13.24
US Nonperforming Loans
Percent
12345
median: 2.29
2014 Q3: 2.13
St. Louis Financial Stress Index
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
0246
median: 0.027
Jan 2015: āˆ’0.95
Commercial Paper Outstanding
TrillionsofDollars
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
1.01.41.82.2
median: 1.35
Jan 2015: 1.09
Residential Morgage Delinquency Rate
Percent
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
246810
median: 2.31
2014 Q3: 6.98
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 12
US Employment Indicators
Unemployment rates are considered the ā€œsingle best indicator of
current labour conditionsā€ 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 donā€™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 eļ¬ƒciency by looking
at the relationship between job openings and the unemployment rate.
The curve slopes downward reļ¬‚ecting 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
median: 6.20
Dec 2014: 5.60
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Percent
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2.02.53.03.54.0
Beveridge Curve (Unemployment vs. Job Openings)
Unemployment Rate (%)
JobOpenings(%totalEmployment)
Dec 2000 āˆ’ Dec 2008
Jan 2009 āˆ’ Sep 2014
Oct 2014
Participation Rate
Percent
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
6364656667
median: 66.05
Dec 2014: 62.70
Total Nonfarm Payroll Change
MonthlyChange(000s)
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’5000500
median: 163.00
Dec 2014: 252.00
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 13
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: 8.60
Dec 2014: 12.60
(U6) Unemployed + PT + Marginally Attached
Percent
810121416
median: 9.70
Dec 2014: 11.20
4āˆ’week moving average of Initial Claims
Jan1995=100
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
50100150200
median: 107.99
Jan 2015: 89.32
Unemployed over 27 weeks
MillionsofPersons
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
01234567
median: 0.78
Dec 2014: 2.69
Services: Temp Help
MillionsofPersons
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
1.52.02.53.0
median: 2.24
Dec 2014: 2.99
0 200 400 600
15
20
25
30
35
Annual Change in Employment Levels (000s of Workers)
Averagewages($/hour)
Private Industry Employment Change (1 year)
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 January 11, 2015 Page 14
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 Sector: Real Output
YoYPercentChange
āˆ’1001020
median: 6.14
2014 Q3: 10.50
ISM Manufacturing āˆ’ PMI
Index
3040506070
Dec 2014: 55.50
manufac. expanding
manufac. contracting
ISM Manufacturing: New Orders Index
Index
304050607080
Dec 2014: 57.30
Increase in new orders
Decrease in new orders
Nonāˆ’Manufac. New Orders: Capital Goods
BillionsofDollars
40506070
median: 57.53
Nov 2014: 70.63
Average Weekly Hours: Manufacturing
Hours
3940414243
median: 41.10
Dec 2014: 42.20
Industrial Production: Manufacturing
YoYPercentChange
āˆ’15āˆ’50510
median: 3.32
Nov 2014: 5.09
Total Business: Inventories to Sales Ratio
Ratio
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
1.11.21.31.41.51.6
median: 1.37
Oct 2014: 1.30
Chicago Fed: Sales, Orders & Inventory
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’0.50.00.5
Nov 2014: 0.02
Above ave growth
Below ave growth
ISM Nonāˆ’Manufacturing Bus. Activity Index
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
35455565
Dec 2014: 57.20
Growth
Contraction
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 15
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: 88.30
Dec 2014: 93.60
Consumer Loans (All banks)
YoY%Change
āˆ’10010203040
median: 7.76
Dec 2014: 5.02
Accounting
Change
Deliquency Rate on Consumer Loans
Percent
2.53.03.54.04.5
median: 3.47
2014 Q3: 2.21
New Orders: Durable Consumer Goods
YoY%Change
āˆ’20020
median: 4.59
Nov 2014: āˆ’4.54
New Orders: Nonāˆ’durable Consumer Goods
YoY%Change
āˆ’2001020
median: 4.25
Nov 2014: āˆ’3.41
Personal Consumption & Housing Index
Index
āˆ’0.40.00.20.4
median: 0.02
Nov 2014: āˆ’0.10above ave growth
below ave growth
Light Cars and Trucks Sales
MillionsofUnits
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
10121416182022
median: 14.78
Nov 2014: 17.09
Personal Saving Rate
Percent
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
246810
median: 5.60
Nov 2014: 4.40
Real Retail and Food Services Sales
YoY%Change
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’10āˆ’505
median: 2.54
Nov 2014: 3.80
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 16
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
150200250300
Personal Income vs. Housing Prices (Inflation adjusted values)
NewHomePrice(000's)
Disposable Income Per Capita (000's)
Nov 2014
r2
: 89.2%
Range: Jan 1959 āˆ’ Nov 2014
Blue dots > +5% change in next year
Red dots < āˆ’5% change in next year
New Housing Units Permits Authorized
MillionsofUnits
0.51.01.52.02.5
median: 1.36
Nov 2014: 1.05
New Home Median Sale Price
SalePrice$000's
100150200250
Nov 2014: 280.90
Homeowner's Equity Level
Percent
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
4050607080
median: 66.50
2014 Q3: 53.94
New Homes: Median Months on the Market
Months
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
468101214
median: 5.00
Nov 2014: 3.00
US Monthly Supply of Homes
MonthsSupply
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
4681012
median: 5.90
Nov 2014: 5.80
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 17
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 (deļ¬ned 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 āˆ’ Q3 2014
āˆ’50%
āˆ’40%
āˆ’30%
āˆ’20%
āˆ’10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Today's Home Prices
Percentage Change from 2007āˆ’2009 Peak
Frequency
āˆ’75% āˆ’50% āˆ’25% 0% 25% 50% 75%
Year over Year Change āˆ’ Q3 2014
āˆ’10%
āˆ’8%
āˆ’6%
āˆ’4%
āˆ’2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
YoY Change in this quarter
YoY Percent Change
Frequency
āˆ’15% āˆ’10% āˆ’5% 0% 5% 10% 15%
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 18
Global Business Indicators
Global Manufacturing PMI Reports
The Purchasing Managersā€™ Index (PMI) is an indicator reļ¬‚ecting
purchasing managersā€™ 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 PMIā€™s, along with standard deviation bands to
show a global average.
Global Māˆ’PMI āˆ’ December 2014
<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
50.6
Global PMI
51.6
TWN
50.0MEX
55.3
KOR
49.9
JPN
52.0
VNM
52.7
IDN
47.6
ZAF
50.2
AUS
46.9
BRA
50.2
CAN
53.9
CHN
49.6
IND
54.5
RUS
48.9
SAU
57.9
USA
53.9
Global Māˆ’PMI Monthly Change
<āˆ’5.0 āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0
PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating
Eurozone
0.5
Global PMI
āˆ’0.2
TWN
āˆ’1.4MEX
1.0
KOR
0.9
JPN
0.0
VNM
0.6
IDN
āˆ’0.4
ZAF
āˆ’0.3
AUS
āˆ’3.2
BRA
1.5
CAN
āˆ’1.4
CHN
āˆ’0.4
IND
1.2
RUS
āˆ’2.8
SAU
0.3
USA
āˆ’0.9
Purchase Managers Index (Manufacturing) āˆ’ China, Japan, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Australia
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
3040506070
3040506070
Business Conditions Contracting
Business Conditions Expanding
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 19
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.
Dec12
Jan13
Feb13
Mar13
Apr13
May13
Jun13
Jul13
Aug13
Sep13
Oct13
Nov13
Dec13
Jan14
Feb14
Mar14
Apr14
May14
Jun14
Jul14
Aug14
Sep14
Oct14
Nov14
Dec14
Australia
India
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Taiwan
China
Korea
Japan
South Africa
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Russia
United Kingdom
Greece
Germany
France
Italy
Czech Republic
Spain
Poland
Ireland
Netherlands
Eurozone
Brazil
Mexico
Canada
United States
Global PMI 50.0 51.5 50.9 51.2 50.4 50.6 50.6 50.8 51.6 51.8 52.1 53.1 53.3 53.0 53.2 52.4 51.9 52.2 52.6 52.4 52.6 52.2 52.2 51.8 51.6
56.1 55.8 54.3 54.6 52.1 52.3 52.0 53.7 53.1 52.8 51.8 54.7 55.0 53.7 57.1 55.5 55.4 56.4 57.3 55.8 57.9 57.5 55.9 54.8 53.9
50.4 50.5 51.7 49.3 50.1 53.2 52.4 52.0 52.1 54.2 55.6 55.3 53.5 51.7 52.9 53.3 52.9 52.2 53.5 54.3 54.8 53.5 55.3 55.3 53.9
57.1 55.0 53.4 52.2 51.7 51.7 51.3 49.7 50.8 50.0 50.2 51.9 52.6 54.0 52.0 51.7 51.8 51.9 51.8 51.5 52.1 52.6 53.3 54.3 55.3
51.1 53.2 52.5 51.8 50.8 50.4 50.4 48.5 49.4 49.9 50.2 49.7 50.5 50.8 50.4 50.6 49.3 48.8 48.7 49.1 50.2 49.3 49.1 48.7 50.2
46.1 47.9 47.9 46.8 46.7 48.3 48.8 50.3 51.4 51.1 51.3 51.6 52.7 54.0 53.2 53.0 53.4 52.2 51.8 51.8 50.7 50.3 50.6 50.1 50.6
49.6 50.2 49.0 48.0 48.2 48.7 48.8 50.8 53.5 55.8 54.4 56.8 57.0 54.8 55.2 53.7 53.4 53.6 52.3 53.5 51.7 52.2 53.0 54.6 53.6
51.4 50.3 51.5 48.6 48.0 49.7 50.3 51.0 52.0 52.7 54.9 52.4 53.5 52.8 52.9 55.5 56.1 55.0 55.3 55.4 57.3 55.7 56.6 56.2 56.9
48.5 48.6 48.9 48.0 46.9 48.0 49.3 51.1 52.6 53.1 53.4 54.4 53.2 55.4 55.9 54.0 52.0 50.8 50.3 49.4 49.0 49.5 51.2 53.2 52.8
44.6 46.1 46.8 44.2 44.7 48.1 50.0 49.8 51.1 50.7 50.9 48.6 50.8 52.2 52.5 52.8 52.7 52.9 54.6 53.9 52.8 52.6 52.6 54.7 53.8
46.0 48.3 49.9 49.1 49.5 50.1 51.0 52.0 53.9 53.4 54.5 55.4 54.7 55.9 56.5 55.5 56.5 57.3 54.7 56.5 54.3 55.6 54.4 55.6 53.3
46.7 47.8 45.8 44.5 45.5 47.3 49.1 50.4 51.3 50.8 50.7 51.4 53.3 53.1 52.3 52.4 54.0 53.2 52.6 51.9 49.8 50.7 49.0 49.0 48.4
44.6 42.9 43.9 44.0 44.4 46.4 48.4 49.7 49.7 49.8 49.1 48.4 47.0 49.3 49.7 52.1 51.2 49.6 48.2 47.8 46.9 48.8 48.5 48.4 47.5
46.0 49.8 50.3 49.0 48.1 49.4 48.6 50.7 51.8 51.1 51.7 52.7 54.3 56.5 54.8 53.7 54.1 52.3 52.0 52.4 51.4 49.9 51.4 49.5 51.2
41.4 41.7 43.0 42.1 45.0 45.3 45.4 47.0 48.7 47.5 47.3 49.2 49.6 51.2 51.3 49.7 51.1 51.0 49.4 48.7 50.1 48.4 48.8 49.1 49.4
51.2 50.5 47.9 48.6 50.2 51.3 52.9 54.8 57.2 56.3 56.5 58.4 57.3 56.7 56.2 55.3 57.3 57.0 57.5 55.4 52.5 51.6 53.2 53.5 52.5
50.0 52.0 52.0 50.8 50.6 50.4 51.7 49.2 49.4 49.4 51.8 49.4 48.8 48.0 48.5 48.3 48.5 48.9 49.1 51.0 51.0 50.4 50.3 51.7 48.9
53.1 54.0 53.5 52.3 51.3 51.1 51.2 49.8 50.9 54.0 53.3 55.0 53.5 52.7 53.4 51.7 51.1 50.1 48.8 48.5 50.3 50.4 51.5 52.2 51.4
58.9 58.1 58.5 58.9 58.0 57.3 56.6 56.6 57.5 58.7 56.7 57.1 58.7 59.7 58.6 57.0 58.5 57.0 59.2 60.1 60.7 61.8 59.1 57.6 57.9
47.4 49.1 53.6 49.3 50.5 50.4 51.6 52.2 56.5 49.1 51.5 51.6 50.5 50.3 51.5 50.3 47.4 44.3 46.6 45.9 49.0 50.7 52.7 50.5 50.2
45.0 47.7 48.5 50.4 51.1 51.5 52.3 50.7 52.2 52.5 54.2 55.1 55.2 56.6 55.5 53.9 49.4 49.9 51.5 50.5 52.5 51.7 52.4 52.0 52.0
50.1 49.9 50.9 52.0 52.6 51.1 49.4 47.2 47.5 49.7 50.2 50.4 50.8 50.9 49.8 50.4 50.2 49.5 48.4 49.3 50.3 48.8 48.7 49.0 49.9
51.5 50.4 50.4 51.6 50.4 49.2 48.2 47.7 50.1 50.2 50.9 50.8 50.5 49.5 48.5 48.0 48.1 49.4 50.7 51.7 50.2 50.2 50.4 50.0 49.6
50.6 51.5 50.2 51.2 50.7 47.1 49.5 48.6 50.0 52.0 53.0 53.4 55.2 55.5 54.7 52.7 52.3 52.4 54.0 55.8 56.1 53.3 52.0 51.4 50.0
49.3 50.1 48.3 50.8 51.0 48.8 46.4 48.5 49.4 51.5 51.5 50.3 51.8 52.1 51.0 51.3 53.1 52.5 52.3 51.7 50.3 51.7 51.0 52.1 52.7
50.7 49.7 50.5 51.3 51.7 51.6 51.0 50.7 48.5 50.2 50.9 50.3 50.9 51.0 50.5 50.1 51.1 52.4 52.7 52.7 49.5 50.7 49.2 48.0 47.6
54.7 53.2 54.2 52.0 51.0 50.1 50.3 50.1 48.5 49.6 49.6 51.3 50.7 51.4 52.5 51.3 51.3 51.4 51.5 53.0 52.4 51.0 51.6 53.3 54.5
44.3 40.2 45.6 44.4 36.7 43.8 49.6 42.0 46.4 51.7 53.2 47.7 47.6 46.7 48.6 47.9 44.8 49.2 48.9 50.7 47.3 46.5 49.4 50.1 46.9
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 20
OECD International Trade Data
The OECD calculates import and export values for member coun-
tries. Figures are seasonally adjusted and measured in billions of US
dollars. Red lines indicate exports, while blue lines indicate imports.
Green lines indicate the zero level.
The top part of the graph shows the changes in exports and imports
on a year-over-year basis, while the bottom part shows the diļ¬€erence
between exports and imports for that given month (i.e. the trade bal-
ance)
China
YoYChange
āˆ’40
āˆ’20
0
20
40
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’10
0
10
20
30
40
US
YoYChange
āˆ’60
āˆ’40
āˆ’20
0
20
40
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’80
āˆ’60
āˆ’40
āˆ’20
0
Canada
YoYChange
āˆ’15
āˆ’10
āˆ’5
0
5
10
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’2
0
2
4
6
Germany
YoYChange
āˆ’40
āˆ’20
0
20
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
JapanYoYChange
āˆ’30
āˆ’20
āˆ’10
0
10
20
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’15
āˆ’10
āˆ’5
0
5
10
South Korea
YoYChange
āˆ’15
āˆ’10
āˆ’5
0
5
10
15
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’4
āˆ’2
0
2
4
6
India
YoYChange
āˆ’10
āˆ’5
0
5
10
15
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’15
āˆ’10
āˆ’5
0
Australia
YoYChange
āˆ’6
āˆ’4
āˆ’2
0
2
4
6
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’2
āˆ’1
0
1
2
3
4
Eurozone
YoYChange
āˆ’80
āˆ’60
āˆ’40
āˆ’20
0
20
40
Balance
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
āˆ’10
0
10
20
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 21
Canadian Indicators
Retail Trade (SA)
YoYPercentChange
āˆ’50510
median: 4.76
Oct 2014: 4.85
Total Manufacturing Sales Growth
YoYPercentGrowth
āˆ’2001020
median: 4.23
Oct 2014: 5.71
Manufacturing New Orders Growth
YoYPercentGrowth
āˆ’30āˆ’100102030
median: 4.65
Oct 2014: 6.67
10yr Government Bond Yields
0246810
median: 5.77
Dec 2014: 1.79
Manufacturing PMI
505152535455
Dec 2014: 53.90
Sales and New Orders (SA)
YoYPercentChange
āˆ’2001020
Sales
New Orders (smoothed)
Tbill Yield Spread (10 yr āˆ’ 3mo)
Spread(Percent)
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’101234
median: 1.34
Dec 2014: 0.88
Inflation (total and core)
YoYPercentChange
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’101234
median: 1.97
Nov 2014: 1.95
Total
Core
Inventory to Sales Ratio (SA)
Ratio
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
1.31.41.51.6
median: 1.35
Oct 2014: 1.35
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 22
6.8 7.0 7.2 7.4 7.6
1.31.41.51.61.71.81.9
Beveridge Curve (Mar 2011 āˆ’ Sep 2014)
Unemployment Rate
Vacancyrate(Industrial)
Mar 2011 āˆ’ Dec 2012
Jan 2013 āˆ’ Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Ownership/Rental Price Ratio
RatioofAccomodationOwnership/RentRatio
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
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 6.6%
Alberta 4.5%
Ontario 7.0%
Debt Service Ratios (SA)
Percent
46810
Total Debt: 6.9%
Mortgage: 3.5%
Consumer Debt: 6.5%
Housing Starts and Building Permits (smoothed)
YoYPercentChange
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’40āˆ’2002040
Permits
Starts
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 23
European Indicators
Unemployment Rates
Percentage
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
051015202530
Business Employment Expectations
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’40āˆ’20010
Industrial Orderbook Levels
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’60āˆ’40āˆ’20020
Country Employment
Expect.
Unempl.
(%)
Bond Yields
(%)
Retail
Turnover
Manufacturing
Turnover
Inļ¬‚ation
(YoY %)
Industry
Orderbook
PMI
Series Dates Dec 2014 Nov 2014 Nov 2014 Nov 2014 Oct 2014 Nov 2014 Dec 2014 Dec 2014
France -10.2 I 10.3 I 1.14 J 104.3 I 108.0 J 0.4 J -18.4 I 47.5 J
Germany -2.7 I 5.0 K 0.72 J NA 113.5 I 0.5 J -9.4 J 51.2 I
United Kingdom 10.7 I 5.9 K 1.72 J 113.1 I NA 1.3 I 5.0 J 52.5 J
Italy -7.2 I 13.4 I 2.29 J NA NA 0.3 I -22.0 I 48.4 J
Greece 2.9 J 25.8 J 8.10 I NA NA -1.2 I -15.5 J 49.4 I
Spain -4.5 J 23.9 J 2.07 J NA NA -0.5 J -13.7 J 53.8 J
Eurozone (EU28) -1.8 I 10.0 J 1.69 J 104.8 I 109.0 I 0.5 I -13.0 J NA
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 24
Government Bond YieldsLongTermYields%
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
0246810
Economic Sentiment
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
60708090110130
Consumer Confidence
Index
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’100āˆ’60āˆ’20020
Inflation (Harmonized Prices)
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
median: 2.00
Oct 2014: 0.40āˆ’1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Euro Area
US
Harmonized Inflation: Oct 2014
AUT
1.4%
BGR
āˆ’1.9%
DEU
0.5%
ESP
āˆ’0.5%
FIN
1.1%
FRA
0.4%
GBR
1.3%
GRC
āˆ’1.2%
HUN
0.1%
IRL
0.2%
ISL
āˆ’0.6%
ITA
0.3%
NOR
2.0%
POL
āˆ’0.3%
ROU
1.5%
SWE
0.3%
<āˆ’1.0%0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% >7.0%
YoY % Change in Prices
PMI: December 2014
<40.042.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0>60.0
Steady ExpandingContracting
BRA
50.2
CAN
53.9
DEU
51.2
ESP
53.8
FRA
47.5
GBR
52.5
GRC
49.4
IRL
56.9
ITA
48.4
MEX
55.3
POL
52.8
SAU
57.9
TUR
51.4
USA
53.9
RUS
48.9
PMI Change: Nov āˆ’ Dec
<āˆ’5.0āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0
PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating
CAN
āˆ’1.4
DEU
1.7
ESP
āˆ’0.9
FRA
āˆ’0.9
GBR
āˆ’1.0
GRC
0.3
IRL
0.7
ITA
āˆ’0.6
POL
āˆ’0.4
TUR
āˆ’0.8
USA
āˆ’0.9
RUS
āˆ’2.8
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 25
Chinese Indicators
Tracking the Chinese economy is a tricky. As reported in the Fi-
nancial Times, Premier Li Keqiang conļ¬ded to US oļ¬ƒcials in 2007 that
gross domestic product was ā€œman madeā€ and ā€œfor reference onlyā€. 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 oļ¬ƒcial version put out by the Chinese government and
diļ¬€ers 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
4045505560
Dec 2014: 49.60
Shanghai Composite Index
IndexValue(MonthlyHigh/Low)
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
0100030005000
Jan 2015: 3351.45
Electricity Generated
100MillionKWH(logscale)
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
1000200030005000
Nov 2014: 4487.00
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
98100102104106108
median: 103.40
Nov 2014: 105.50
Exports
YoYPercentChange
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
āˆ’20020406080
median: 18.70
Nov 2014: 4.70
Retail Sales Growth
YoYPercentChange
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
101520
median: 13.10
Nov 2014: 11.70
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 26
Global Climate Change
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 deļ¬ned as the diļ¬€erence
from the average value over the period from 1961-1990 for precipitation
and 1971-2000 for temperature.
Average Temperature Anomalies from Jun 2014 - Nov 2014
<āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 >4.0
Anomalies in Celcius WarmerCooler Anomalies in Celcius
āˆ’4 āˆ’2 0 2 4
Average 6 month Precipitation Anomalies from Jun 2014 - Nov 2014
<āˆ’40.0 āˆ’30.0 āˆ’20.0 āˆ’10.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 >40.0
Anomalies in millimeters WetterDrier Anomalies in millimeters
āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 40
www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 27

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Global Economics Update - January 2015

  • 1. .... Laird Research - Economics January 11, 2015 Where we are now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Indicators for US Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Global Financial Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 US Key Interest Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 US Inļ¬‚ation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QE Taper Tracker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Exchange Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 US Banking Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 US Employment Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 US Business Activity Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 US Consumption Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 US Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Global Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Canadian Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 European Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Chinese Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Global Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Where we are now Welcome to the Laird Report. We present a selection economic data from around the world to help ļ¬gure where we are today. In theory, this is the best of times in North America. Unemploy- ment is dropping like a stone, inļ¬‚ation is low, oil prices cracked in half and companies are reporting a general increase in tone across the board (assuming you arenā€™t an oil services company). Canada seems okay, de- spite the fears over housing prices and Western Canada is bracing for mass layoļ¬€s in the next few months as oil prices have cracked. Thereā€™s a real feeling of anxiousness across the globe. Despite all the debt that governments have taken on to help their economies and the risks from slowdowns in major markets like Europe and China, interest rates are at all time lows - if you look at interest rates as indicators of risk, then you will have a hard time making these two pictures ļ¬t together. Perhaps the strangest thing is (the lack of) inļ¬‚ation. Certainly there is the standard chorus that ā€œthe government is lyingā€ however even 3rd party sources like TheBillionPricesProject at MIT are showing that the CPI isnā€™t far oļ¬€ the mark in the US and elsewhere. As much as we look at core CPI and PCE to ignore the price swings of oil and food - new oil prices are very helpful to consumers. See page 25 - Europe is essentially in deļ¬‚ation, even with employment high (though improv- ing). Itā€™s like stagļ¬‚ationā€™s evil twin brother - deļ¬‚ation actually makes debt loads worse. And its not like the usual government level of interest rates is helpful here - everyone is already close to zero. It just doesnā€™t make any sense. Formatting Notes The grey bars on the various charts are OECD recession indicators for the respective countries. In many cases, the last available value is listed, along with the median value (measured from as much of the data series as is available). Subscription Info For a FREE subscription to this monthly re- port, please visit sign up at our website: www.lairdresearch.com Laird Research, January 11, 2015
  • 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 Fedā€™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; new order and housing per- mit indicies; delivery timings (longer timings imply more demand in the system) and consumer sentiment (how consumers are feeling about their own ļ¬nancial situation and the economy in general). Leading Index for the US Index:Est.6monthgrowth āˆ’3āˆ’11234 median: 1.41 Nov 2014: 1.71 Growth Contraction Initial Unemployment Claims 1000'sofClaimsperWeek 200400600 median: 351.25 Jan 2015: 290.50 Manufacturing Ave. Weekly Hours Worked Hours 394041424344 median: 40.60 Dec 2014: 42.20 ISM Manfacturing āˆ’ PMI Index:SteadyState=50 3040506070 median: 53.40 Dec 2014: 55.50 expanding economy contracting economy Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods BillionsofDollars 150200250300 median: 183.11 Nov 2014: 241.56 ISM Manufacturing: Supplier Deliveries Index 40506070 median: 51.65 Dec 2014: 59.30 Slower Deliveries Faster Deliveries Capex (ex. Defense & Planes) Percentchange(3months) 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’10āˆ’505 median: 0.86 Nov 2014: āˆ’0.98 Chicago Fed National Activity Index IndexValue 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’4āˆ’202 median: 0.08 Nov 2014: 0.73 U. Michigan: Consumer Sentiment Index1966Q1=100 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 507090110 median: 88.30 Dec 2014: 93.60 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 2
  • 3. Global Financial Markets Global Stock Market Returns Country Index Name Close Date Current Value Weekly Change Monthly Change 3 month Change Yearly Change Corr to S&P500 Corr to TSX North America USA S&P 500 Jan 09 2,044.8 -0.7% J -0.7% J 6.0% I 11.2% I 1.00 0.73 USA NASDAQ Composite Jan 09 4,704.1 -0.5% J -1.3% J 7.4% I 13.2% I 0.94 0.68 USA Wilshire 5000 Total Market Jan 09 21,497.1 -0.8% J -0.2% J 6.2% I 9.6% I 0.99 0.75 Canada S&P TSX Jan 09 14,384.9 -2.5% J 1.3% I -0.5% J 5.5% I 0.73 1.00 Europe and Russia France CAC 40 Jan 09 4,179.1 -1.7% J -2.0% J 0.9% I -1.1% J 0.59 0.48 Germany DAX Jan 09 9,648.5 -1.2% J -1.5% J 7.1% I 2.4% I 0.55 0.43 United Kingdom FTSE Jan 09 6,501.1 -0.7% J -0.4% J 1.1% I -2.8% J 0.59 0.51 Russia Market Vectors Russia ETF Jan 09 15.2 2.8% I -9.7% J -26.6% J -41.6% J 0.35 0.39 Asia Taiwan TSEC weighted index Jan 09 9,215.6 -1.0% J 0.9% I 2.8% I 8.2% I 0.25 0.12 China Shanghai Composite Index Jan 06 3,351.4 5.9% I 11.0% I 40.7% I 63.8% I -0.09 -0.24 Japan NIKKEI 225 Jan 09 17,197.7 -1.5% J -3.5% J 11.1% I 8.3% I 0.07 0.00 Hong Kong Hang Seng Jan 09 23,920.0 0.3% I 1.8% I 1.6% I 5.0% I 0.18 0.03 Korea Kospi Jan 09 1,924.7 -0.1% J -2.3% J -0.8% J -1.1% J 0.19 0.10 South Asia and Austrailia India Bombay Stock Exchange Jan 09 27,458.4 -1.5% J -1.2% J 3.1% I 32.6% I 0.28 0.19 Indonesia Jakarta Jan 09 5,216.7 -0.5% J 1.8% I 4.5% I 24.2% I 0.02 -0.02 Malaysia FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Jan 09 1,732.4 -1.2% J -0.3% J -5.3% J -5.2% J 0.42 0.23 Australia All Ordinaries Jan 09 5,440.1 0.5% I 3.5% I 2.8% I 2.1% I 0.14 0.07 New Zealand NZX 50 Index Gross Jan 09 5,584.8 0.3% I 0.8% I 6.1% I 14.8% I 0.15 0.08 South America Brasil IBOVESPA Jan 09 48,840.0 0.7% I -2.7% J -14.7% J -1.0% J 0.31 0.37 Argentina MERVAL Buenos Aires Jan 09 8,459.6 -2.4% J -4.8% J -17.1% J 57.4% I 0.45 0.46 Mexico Bolsa index Jan 09 42,382.4 0.6% I 0.1% I -3.9% J 1.9% I 0.64 0.47 MENA and Africa Egypt Market Vectors Egypt ETF Jan 09 58.9 0.4% I -6.8% J -12.6% J 10.6% I 0.33 0.08 (Gulf States) Market Vectors Gulf States ETF Jan 09 26.2 -0.0% J -3.7% J -19.1% J -2.6% J 0.47 0.30 South Africa iShares MSCI South Africa Index Jan 09 65.5 3.1% I 3.4% I 3.5% I 10.8% I 0.64 0.51 (Africa) Market Vectors Africa ETF Jan 09 25.7 -1.3% J -1.3% J -13.0% J -12.0% J 0.54 0.49 Commodities USD Spot Oil West Texas Int. Jan 05 $50.0 -6.4% J -24.0% J -44.6% J -46.3% J 0.19 0.45 USD Gold LME Spot Jan 09 $1,211.2 2.3% I 0.4% I -1.3% J -1.2% J -0.06 -0.06 Note: Correlations are based on daily arithmetic returns for the most recent 100 trading days. www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 3
  • 4. S&P 500 Composite Index The S&P 500 Composite Index is widely regarded as the best single gauge of the large cap U.S. equities market. A key ļ¬gure is the valua- tion level of the S&P500 as measured by the Price/Earnings ratio. We present two versions: (1) a 12-month trailing earnings version which reļ¬‚ects current earnings but is skewed by short term variances and (2) a cyclically adjusted version which looks at the inļ¬‚ation adjusted earn- ings over a 10 year period (i.e. at least one business cycle). Forecasted earnings numbers are estimates provided by S&P. S&P 500 Profit Margins and Overall Corporate Profit Margins (Trailing 12 months) Percent 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Percent Total Corporate Profits (% of GDP) āˆ’ median: 6.2%, Q3/14: 10.8% Net Profit Margin (S&P 500 Earnings / Revenue) āˆ’ median: 6.6%, Q3/14: 9.2% S&P Quarterly Earnings (USD$ 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 āˆ’5.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 āˆ’5.00 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 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 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 Multiple Multiple 12āˆ’month P/E ( median = 17.4, Jan = 18.1) 10āˆ’year CAPE ( median = 19.4, Jan = 25.1) www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 4
  • 5. S&P 500 Composite Distributions This is a view of the price performance of the S&P 500 index com- panies. The area of each box is proportional to the companyā€™s market cap, while the colour is determined by the percentage change in price over the past month. In addition, companies are sorted according to their industry group. AAPL āˆ’2.7% MSFT āˆ’2.9% GOOG āˆ’7% FB 3.5% ORCL 3.1% INTC āˆ’1.1% V 0.92% IBM āˆ’1.5% CSCO 0.72% QCOM 3.7% MA EMC ACN TXN MU NFLX EA CA BRKāˆ’A 0.97% WFC āˆ’2.1% JPM āˆ’1.1% BAC 1.4% C AXP GS USB AIG MS SPG BLK MET BK AMT TRV BEN STT ALL AFL ICE CB AVB VTR PLD STI WY HST HIG IVZ L RF JNJ āˆ’2.9% PFE 4.4% MRK 4.1% GILD 1.7% AMGN ABBV BMY UNH BIIB LLY MDT ACT ABT AGN ESRX TMO BAX ALXN SYK AET CI BDX ZTS MYL BSX STJ DVA A DIS 3% CMCSA āˆ’0.55% HD AMZN āˆ’8.9% MCD NKE FOXA TWX LOW F GM TGT TJX DTV TWC LB M CMG DLPH GPS UA WMT 4.2% PG KO PEP āˆ’2.2% PM āˆ’4.4% CVS 8.6% MO 0.6% WBA CL KR GIS ADM EL K LO GE āˆ’7.6% UTX MMM 2.2% UNP UPS BA LMT CAT GD RTN PCP NSC ETN NOC GLW DE LUV CMI WM IR XOM āˆ’0.27% CVX āˆ’3.2% SLB āˆ’4.3% COP OXY KMI PSX HAL NOV VLO BHI DVN APA SE HES PXD DD MON DOW LYB PX ECL SHW IP AA CF DUK NEE SO D ED VZ āˆ’6.5% T āˆ’4.7% Information Technology Financials Health Care Consumer Discretionary Consumer Staples Industrials Energy Materials Utilities Telecommunications Services <āˆ’25.0% āˆ’20.0% āˆ’15.0% āˆ’10.0% āˆ’5.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% >25.0% % Change in Price from Dec 1, 2014 to Jan 9, 2015 Average Median Median Median Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E Utilities 3.8% I 1.7 1.8 20.1 Health Care 1.6% I 3.4 4.2 25.9 Consumer Staples 1.1% I 2.1 5.7 23.4 Consumer Discretionary 0.5% I 1.6 4.4 20.9 Materials 0.2% I 1.7 3.8 23.4 Average Median Median Median Sector Change P/Sales P/Book P/E Financials 0.2% I 3.1 1.6 18.1 Industrials -0.7% J 1.7 3.4 19.8 Information Technology -0.9% J 3.4 4.0 21.2 Energy -3.3% J 1.4 1.4 11.8 Telecommunications Services -5.8% J 1.4 4.4 29.9 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 5
  • 6. US Equity Valuations A key valuation metric is Tobinā€™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 Buļ¬€et famously follows stock market value as a percentage of GNP, which is highly (93%) correlated to Tobinā€™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 BAA rated securities as a proxy) and equity premiums above the risk free rate (10 year US Treasuries). These ļ¬gures 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 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 = 0.75, Sep = 1.09) S&P 500 Price/Sales (median = 1.32, Sep = 1.73) Equity and Debt Risk Premiums: Spread vs. Risk Free Rate (10āˆ’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 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% Implied Equity Premium (median = 4.2%, Dec = 4.9%) Debt (BAA) Premium (median = 2.0%, Dec = 2.6%) www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 6
  • 7. US Mutual Fund Flows Fund ļ¬‚ows describe the net investments in equity and bond mutual funds in the US market, as described in ICIā€™s ā€œTrends in Mutual Fund Investingā€ report. Note however that this is only part of the story as it does not include ETF fund ļ¬‚ows - part of the changes are investors entering or leaving the market, and part is investors shifting to ETFā€™s from mutual funds. US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds US$billions(monthly) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 āˆ’40āˆ’2002040 Domestic Equity World Equity Taxable Bonds Municipal Bonds US Net New Investment Cash Flow to Mutual Funds US$billions(Monthly) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 āˆ’60āˆ’40āˆ’200204060 Flows to Equity Flows to Bonds Net Market Flows www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 7
  • 8. US Key Interest Rates Interest rates are often leading indicators of stress in the ļ¬nancial 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 BAA bonds) or between government loans (LIBOR vs Fedfunds - the infamous ā€œTED Spreadā€). Here a spike correlates to an aversion to risk, which is an indication that something bad is happen- ing. US Treasury Yield Curves ForwardInstantaneousRates(%) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0Jan 8, 2015 (Today) Dec 8, 2014 (1 mo ago) Oct 8, 2014 (3 mo ago) 08 Jan 2014 (1 yr ago) 3 Month & 10 Yr Treasury Yields 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 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. BAA Bond Spreads 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% Percent AAA BAA 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 median: 91.00 Jan 2015: 96.00 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300 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 tāˆ’bill LIBOR 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 median: 36.62 Jan 2015: 22.56 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300 Spread(bps) www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 8
  • 9. US Inļ¬‚ation Generally, the US Fed tries to anchor long run inļ¬‚ation expectations to approximately 2%. Inļ¬‚ation 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 inļ¬‚ation (usually called Core Inļ¬‚ation). The Fed seems to think PCI more accurately reļ¬‚ects the entire basket of goods and services that households purchase. Finally, we can make a reasonable estimate of future inļ¬‚ation ex- pectations by comparing real return and normal bonds to construct an imputed forward inļ¬‚ation expectation. The 5y5y chart shows expected 5 year inļ¬‚ation 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 āˆ’1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% āˆ’1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% US Inflation Rate YoY% (Nov = 1.3%) US Inflation ex Food & Energy YoY% (Nov = 1.7%) Personal Consumption Expenditures Percent(YearoverYear) 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’10123456 PCE Inflation Rate YoY% (Nov = 1.2%) PCE Core Inflation YoY% (Nov = 1.4%) 5āˆ’Year, 5āˆ’Year Forward Inflation Expectation Rate Percent 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 āˆ’10123456 5 year forward Inflation Expectation Actual 5yr Inflation (CPI measure) Actual 5yr Inflation (PCE Measure) www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 9
  • 10. QE Taper Tracker The US has been using the program of Quantitative Easing to pro- vide monetary stimulous to its economy. The Fed has engaged in a series of programs (QE1, QE2 & QE3) designed to drive down long term rates and improve liquidity though purchases of treasuries, mor- gage backed securites and other debt from banks. The higher demand for long maturity securities would drive up their price, but as these securities have a ļ¬xed coupon, their yield would be decreased (yield ā‰ˆ coupon / price) thus driving down long term rates. In 2011-2012, ā€œOperation Twistā€ attempted to reduce rates without increasing liquidity. They went back to QE in 2013. The Fed chairman suggested in June 2013 the economy was recover- ing enough that they could start slowing down purchases (ā€œtaperingā€). The Fed backed oļ¬€ after a brief market panic. The Fed announced in Dec 2013 that it was starting the taper, a decision partly driven by seeing key targets of inļ¬‚ation around 2% and unemployment being less than 6.5%. In Oct 2014, they announced the end of purchases. QE Asset Purchases to Date (Treasury & Mortgage Backed Securities) Trillions 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 QE1 QE2 Operation Twist QE3 TaperTreasuries Mortgage Backed Securities Total Monthly Asset Purchases (Treasury + Mortgage Backed Securities) Billions āˆ’100 āˆ’50 0 50 100 150 200 āˆ’100 āˆ’50 0 50 100 150 200 Month to date Jan 07: $āˆ’0.1 Inflation and Unemployment āˆ’ Relative to Targets Percent 0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 Target Unemployment 6.5% Target Inflation 2% U.S. 10 Year and 3 Month Treasury Constant Maturity Yields Percent 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Short Term Rates: Once at zero, Fed moved to QE Long Term Rates: Moving up in anticipation of Taper? www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 10
  • 11. Exchange Rates 10 Week Moving Average CAD Exchange Rates 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 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 0.590.981.361.742.122.51 Brazil/CAD CAD Appreciating CAD Depreciating Change in F/X: Dec 1 2014 to Jan 2 2015 (Trade Weighted Currency Index of USD Trading Partners) āˆ’3.0% āˆ’1.5% 1.5% 3.0% Euro 1.1% UK āˆ’0.4% Japan āˆ’1.1% South Korea āˆ’3.2% China āˆ’1.9% India āˆ’0.7% Brazil 2.3% Mexico 3.3% Canada 0.5% USA 2.9% Country vs. Average Appreciating Depreciating % Change over 3 months vs. Canada <āˆ’10.0% āˆ’8.0% āˆ’6.0% āˆ’4.0% āˆ’2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% >10.0% CAD depreciatingCAD appreciating ARG 4.9% AUS āˆ’1.8% BRA āˆ’4.5% CHN 6.6% IND 4.2% RUS āˆ’30.3% USA 6.5% EUR āˆ’1.2% JPY āˆ’3.6% KRW 4.4% MXN āˆ’3.0% ZAR 1.8% www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 11
  • 12. US Banking Indicators The banking and ļ¬nance 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 ļ¬gures to track are the Net Interest Margins which determine proļ¬tability (ie. the diļ¬€erence 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 Percent 3.54.04.5 median: 3.95 2014 Q3: 3.09 Repos Outstanding with Fed. Reserve BillionsofDollars 0100300500 median: 54.19 Jan 2015: 241.44 Bank ROE āˆ’ Assets between $300Māˆ’$1B Percent 051015 median: 12.83 2014 Q3: 9.57 Consumer Credit Outstanding %YearlyChange āˆ’505101520 median: 7.68 Nov 2014: 7.00 Total Business Loans %YearlyChange āˆ’2001020 median: 8.54 Dec 2014: 13.24 US Nonperforming Loans Percent 12345 median: 2.29 2014 Q3: 2.13 St. Louis Financial Stress Index Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 0246 median: 0.027 Jan 2015: āˆ’0.95 Commercial Paper Outstanding TrillionsofDollars 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 1.01.41.82.2 median: 1.35 Jan 2015: 1.09 Residential Morgage Delinquency Rate Percent 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 246810 median: 2.31 2014 Q3: 6.98 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 12
  • 13. US Employment Indicators Unemployment rates are considered the ā€œsingle best indicator of current labour conditionsā€ 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 donā€™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 eļ¬ƒciency by looking at the relationship between job openings and the unemployment rate. The curve slopes downward reļ¬‚ecting 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 median: 6.20 Dec 2014: 5.60 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Percent 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2.02.53.03.54.0 Beveridge Curve (Unemployment vs. Job Openings) Unemployment Rate (%) JobOpenings(%totalEmployment) Dec 2000 āˆ’ Dec 2008 Jan 2009 āˆ’ Sep 2014 Oct 2014 Participation Rate Percent 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 6364656667 median: 66.05 Dec 2014: 62.70 Total Nonfarm Payroll Change MonthlyChange(000s) 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’5000500 median: 163.00 Dec 2014: 252.00 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 13
  • 14. 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: 8.60 Dec 2014: 12.60 (U6) Unemployed + PT + Marginally Attached Percent 810121416 median: 9.70 Dec 2014: 11.20 4āˆ’week moving average of Initial Claims Jan1995=100 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 50100150200 median: 107.99 Jan 2015: 89.32 Unemployed over 27 weeks MillionsofPersons 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 01234567 median: 0.78 Dec 2014: 2.69 Services: Temp Help MillionsofPersons 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 1.52.02.53.0 median: 2.24 Dec 2014: 2.99 0 200 400 600 15 20 25 30 35 Annual Change in Employment Levels (000s of Workers) Averagewages($/hour) Private Industry Employment Change (1 year) 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 January 11, 2015 Page 14
  • 15. 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 Sector: Real Output YoYPercentChange āˆ’1001020 median: 6.14 2014 Q3: 10.50 ISM Manufacturing āˆ’ PMI Index 3040506070 Dec 2014: 55.50 manufac. expanding manufac. contracting ISM Manufacturing: New Orders Index Index 304050607080 Dec 2014: 57.30 Increase in new orders Decrease in new orders Nonāˆ’Manufac. New Orders: Capital Goods BillionsofDollars 40506070 median: 57.53 Nov 2014: 70.63 Average Weekly Hours: Manufacturing Hours 3940414243 median: 41.10 Dec 2014: 42.20 Industrial Production: Manufacturing YoYPercentChange āˆ’15āˆ’50510 median: 3.32 Nov 2014: 5.09 Total Business: Inventories to Sales Ratio Ratio 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 1.11.21.31.41.51.6 median: 1.37 Oct 2014: 1.30 Chicago Fed: Sales, Orders & Inventory Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’0.50.00.5 Nov 2014: 0.02 Above ave growth Below ave growth ISM Nonāˆ’Manufacturing Bus. Activity Index Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 35455565 Dec 2014: 57.20 Growth Contraction www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 15
  • 16. 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: 88.30 Dec 2014: 93.60 Consumer Loans (All banks) YoY%Change āˆ’10010203040 median: 7.76 Dec 2014: 5.02 Accounting Change Deliquency Rate on Consumer Loans Percent 2.53.03.54.04.5 median: 3.47 2014 Q3: 2.21 New Orders: Durable Consumer Goods YoY%Change āˆ’20020 median: 4.59 Nov 2014: āˆ’4.54 New Orders: Nonāˆ’durable Consumer Goods YoY%Change āˆ’2001020 median: 4.25 Nov 2014: āˆ’3.41 Personal Consumption & Housing Index Index āˆ’0.40.00.20.4 median: 0.02 Nov 2014: āˆ’0.10above ave growth below ave growth Light Cars and Trucks Sales MillionsofUnits 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 10121416182022 median: 14.78 Nov 2014: 17.09 Personal Saving Rate Percent 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 246810 median: 5.60 Nov 2014: 4.40 Real Retail and Food Services Sales YoY%Change 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’10āˆ’505 median: 2.54 Nov 2014: 3.80 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 16
  • 17. 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 150200250300 Personal Income vs. Housing Prices (Inflation adjusted values) NewHomePrice(000's) Disposable Income Per Capita (000's) Nov 2014 r2 : 89.2% Range: Jan 1959 āˆ’ Nov 2014 Blue dots > +5% change in next year Red dots < āˆ’5% change in next year New Housing Units Permits Authorized MillionsofUnits 0.51.01.52.02.5 median: 1.36 Nov 2014: 1.05 New Home Median Sale Price SalePrice$000's 100150200250 Nov 2014: 280.90 Homeowner's Equity Level Percent 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 4050607080 median: 66.50 2014 Q3: 53.94 New Homes: Median Months on the Market Months 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 468101214 median: 5.00 Nov 2014: 3.00 US Monthly Supply of Homes MonthsSupply 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 4681012 median: 5.90 Nov 2014: 5.80 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 17
  • 18. 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 (deļ¬ned 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 āˆ’ Q3 2014 āˆ’50% āˆ’40% āˆ’30% āˆ’20% āˆ’10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Today's Home Prices Percentage Change from 2007āˆ’2009 Peak Frequency āˆ’75% āˆ’50% āˆ’25% 0% 25% 50% 75% Year over Year Change āˆ’ Q3 2014 āˆ’10% āˆ’8% āˆ’6% āˆ’4% āˆ’2% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% YoY Change in this quarter YoY Percent Change Frequency āˆ’15% āˆ’10% āˆ’5% 0% 5% 10% 15% www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 18
  • 19. Global Business Indicators Global Manufacturing PMI Reports The Purchasing Managersā€™ Index (PMI) is an indicator reļ¬‚ecting purchasing managersā€™ 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 PMIā€™s, along with standard deviation bands to show a global average. Global Māˆ’PMI āˆ’ December 2014 <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 50.6 Global PMI 51.6 TWN 50.0MEX 55.3 KOR 49.9 JPN 52.0 VNM 52.7 IDN 47.6 ZAF 50.2 AUS 46.9 BRA 50.2 CAN 53.9 CHN 49.6 IND 54.5 RUS 48.9 SAU 57.9 USA 53.9 Global Māˆ’PMI Monthly Change <āˆ’5.0 āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0 PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating Eurozone 0.5 Global PMI āˆ’0.2 TWN āˆ’1.4MEX 1.0 KOR 0.9 JPN 0.0 VNM 0.6 IDN āˆ’0.4 ZAF āˆ’0.3 AUS āˆ’3.2 BRA 1.5 CAN āˆ’1.4 CHN āˆ’0.4 IND 1.2 RUS āˆ’2.8 SAU 0.3 USA āˆ’0.9 Purchase Managers Index (Manufacturing) āˆ’ China, Japan, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Australia 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 3040506070 3040506070 Business Conditions Contracting Business Conditions Expanding www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 19
  • 20. 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. Dec12 Jan13 Feb13 Mar13 Apr13 May13 Jun13 Jul13 Aug13 Sep13 Oct13 Nov13 Dec13 Jan14 Feb14 Mar14 Apr14 May14 Jun14 Jul14 Aug14 Sep14 Oct14 Nov14 Dec14 Australia India Indonesia Viet Nam Taiwan China Korea Japan South Africa Saudi Arabia Turkey Russia United Kingdom Greece Germany France Italy Czech Republic Spain Poland Ireland Netherlands Eurozone Brazil Mexico Canada United States Global PMI 50.0 51.5 50.9 51.2 50.4 50.6 50.6 50.8 51.6 51.8 52.1 53.1 53.3 53.0 53.2 52.4 51.9 52.2 52.6 52.4 52.6 52.2 52.2 51.8 51.6 56.1 55.8 54.3 54.6 52.1 52.3 52.0 53.7 53.1 52.8 51.8 54.7 55.0 53.7 57.1 55.5 55.4 56.4 57.3 55.8 57.9 57.5 55.9 54.8 53.9 50.4 50.5 51.7 49.3 50.1 53.2 52.4 52.0 52.1 54.2 55.6 55.3 53.5 51.7 52.9 53.3 52.9 52.2 53.5 54.3 54.8 53.5 55.3 55.3 53.9 57.1 55.0 53.4 52.2 51.7 51.7 51.3 49.7 50.8 50.0 50.2 51.9 52.6 54.0 52.0 51.7 51.8 51.9 51.8 51.5 52.1 52.6 53.3 54.3 55.3 51.1 53.2 52.5 51.8 50.8 50.4 50.4 48.5 49.4 49.9 50.2 49.7 50.5 50.8 50.4 50.6 49.3 48.8 48.7 49.1 50.2 49.3 49.1 48.7 50.2 46.1 47.9 47.9 46.8 46.7 48.3 48.8 50.3 51.4 51.1 51.3 51.6 52.7 54.0 53.2 53.0 53.4 52.2 51.8 51.8 50.7 50.3 50.6 50.1 50.6 49.6 50.2 49.0 48.0 48.2 48.7 48.8 50.8 53.5 55.8 54.4 56.8 57.0 54.8 55.2 53.7 53.4 53.6 52.3 53.5 51.7 52.2 53.0 54.6 53.6 51.4 50.3 51.5 48.6 48.0 49.7 50.3 51.0 52.0 52.7 54.9 52.4 53.5 52.8 52.9 55.5 56.1 55.0 55.3 55.4 57.3 55.7 56.6 56.2 56.9 48.5 48.6 48.9 48.0 46.9 48.0 49.3 51.1 52.6 53.1 53.4 54.4 53.2 55.4 55.9 54.0 52.0 50.8 50.3 49.4 49.0 49.5 51.2 53.2 52.8 44.6 46.1 46.8 44.2 44.7 48.1 50.0 49.8 51.1 50.7 50.9 48.6 50.8 52.2 52.5 52.8 52.7 52.9 54.6 53.9 52.8 52.6 52.6 54.7 53.8 46.0 48.3 49.9 49.1 49.5 50.1 51.0 52.0 53.9 53.4 54.5 55.4 54.7 55.9 56.5 55.5 56.5 57.3 54.7 56.5 54.3 55.6 54.4 55.6 53.3 46.7 47.8 45.8 44.5 45.5 47.3 49.1 50.4 51.3 50.8 50.7 51.4 53.3 53.1 52.3 52.4 54.0 53.2 52.6 51.9 49.8 50.7 49.0 49.0 48.4 44.6 42.9 43.9 44.0 44.4 46.4 48.4 49.7 49.7 49.8 49.1 48.4 47.0 49.3 49.7 52.1 51.2 49.6 48.2 47.8 46.9 48.8 48.5 48.4 47.5 46.0 49.8 50.3 49.0 48.1 49.4 48.6 50.7 51.8 51.1 51.7 52.7 54.3 56.5 54.8 53.7 54.1 52.3 52.0 52.4 51.4 49.9 51.4 49.5 51.2 41.4 41.7 43.0 42.1 45.0 45.3 45.4 47.0 48.7 47.5 47.3 49.2 49.6 51.2 51.3 49.7 51.1 51.0 49.4 48.7 50.1 48.4 48.8 49.1 49.4 51.2 50.5 47.9 48.6 50.2 51.3 52.9 54.8 57.2 56.3 56.5 58.4 57.3 56.7 56.2 55.3 57.3 57.0 57.5 55.4 52.5 51.6 53.2 53.5 52.5 50.0 52.0 52.0 50.8 50.6 50.4 51.7 49.2 49.4 49.4 51.8 49.4 48.8 48.0 48.5 48.3 48.5 48.9 49.1 51.0 51.0 50.4 50.3 51.7 48.9 53.1 54.0 53.5 52.3 51.3 51.1 51.2 49.8 50.9 54.0 53.3 55.0 53.5 52.7 53.4 51.7 51.1 50.1 48.8 48.5 50.3 50.4 51.5 52.2 51.4 58.9 58.1 58.5 58.9 58.0 57.3 56.6 56.6 57.5 58.7 56.7 57.1 58.7 59.7 58.6 57.0 58.5 57.0 59.2 60.1 60.7 61.8 59.1 57.6 57.9 47.4 49.1 53.6 49.3 50.5 50.4 51.6 52.2 56.5 49.1 51.5 51.6 50.5 50.3 51.5 50.3 47.4 44.3 46.6 45.9 49.0 50.7 52.7 50.5 50.2 45.0 47.7 48.5 50.4 51.1 51.5 52.3 50.7 52.2 52.5 54.2 55.1 55.2 56.6 55.5 53.9 49.4 49.9 51.5 50.5 52.5 51.7 52.4 52.0 52.0 50.1 49.9 50.9 52.0 52.6 51.1 49.4 47.2 47.5 49.7 50.2 50.4 50.8 50.9 49.8 50.4 50.2 49.5 48.4 49.3 50.3 48.8 48.7 49.0 49.9 51.5 50.4 50.4 51.6 50.4 49.2 48.2 47.7 50.1 50.2 50.9 50.8 50.5 49.5 48.5 48.0 48.1 49.4 50.7 51.7 50.2 50.2 50.4 50.0 49.6 50.6 51.5 50.2 51.2 50.7 47.1 49.5 48.6 50.0 52.0 53.0 53.4 55.2 55.5 54.7 52.7 52.3 52.4 54.0 55.8 56.1 53.3 52.0 51.4 50.0 49.3 50.1 48.3 50.8 51.0 48.8 46.4 48.5 49.4 51.5 51.5 50.3 51.8 52.1 51.0 51.3 53.1 52.5 52.3 51.7 50.3 51.7 51.0 52.1 52.7 50.7 49.7 50.5 51.3 51.7 51.6 51.0 50.7 48.5 50.2 50.9 50.3 50.9 51.0 50.5 50.1 51.1 52.4 52.7 52.7 49.5 50.7 49.2 48.0 47.6 54.7 53.2 54.2 52.0 51.0 50.1 50.3 50.1 48.5 49.6 49.6 51.3 50.7 51.4 52.5 51.3 51.3 51.4 51.5 53.0 52.4 51.0 51.6 53.3 54.5 44.3 40.2 45.6 44.4 36.7 43.8 49.6 42.0 46.4 51.7 53.2 47.7 47.6 46.7 48.6 47.9 44.8 49.2 48.9 50.7 47.3 46.5 49.4 50.1 46.9 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 20
  • 21. OECD International Trade Data The OECD calculates import and export values for member coun- tries. Figures are seasonally adjusted and measured in billions of US dollars. Red lines indicate exports, while blue lines indicate imports. Green lines indicate the zero level. The top part of the graph shows the changes in exports and imports on a year-over-year basis, while the bottom part shows the diļ¬€erence between exports and imports for that given month (i.e. the trade bal- ance) China YoYChange āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 40 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’10 0 10 20 30 40 US YoYChange āˆ’60 āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 40 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’80 āˆ’60 āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 Canada YoYChange āˆ’15 āˆ’10 āˆ’5 0 5 10 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’2 0 2 4 6 Germany YoYChange āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 JapanYoYChange āˆ’30 āˆ’20 āˆ’10 0 10 20 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’15 āˆ’10 āˆ’5 0 5 10 South Korea YoYChange āˆ’15 āˆ’10 āˆ’5 0 5 10 15 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’4 āˆ’2 0 2 4 6 India YoYChange āˆ’10 āˆ’5 0 5 10 15 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’15 āˆ’10 āˆ’5 0 Australia YoYChange āˆ’6 āˆ’4 āˆ’2 0 2 4 6 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’2 āˆ’1 0 1 2 3 4 Eurozone YoYChange āˆ’80 āˆ’60 āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 40 Balance 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 āˆ’10 0 10 20 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 21
  • 22. Canadian Indicators Retail Trade (SA) YoYPercentChange āˆ’50510 median: 4.76 Oct 2014: 4.85 Total Manufacturing Sales Growth YoYPercentGrowth āˆ’2001020 median: 4.23 Oct 2014: 5.71 Manufacturing New Orders Growth YoYPercentGrowth āˆ’30āˆ’100102030 median: 4.65 Oct 2014: 6.67 10yr Government Bond Yields 0246810 median: 5.77 Dec 2014: 1.79 Manufacturing PMI 505152535455 Dec 2014: 53.90 Sales and New Orders (SA) YoYPercentChange āˆ’2001020 Sales New Orders (smoothed) Tbill Yield Spread (10 yr āˆ’ 3mo) Spread(Percent) 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’101234 median: 1.34 Dec 2014: 0.88 Inflation (total and core) YoYPercentChange 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’101234 median: 1.97 Nov 2014: 1.95 Total Core Inventory to Sales Ratio (SA) Ratio 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 1.31.41.51.6 median: 1.35 Oct 2014: 1.35 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 22
  • 23. 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.4 7.6 1.31.41.51.61.71.81.9 Beveridge Curve (Mar 2011 āˆ’ Sep 2014) Unemployment Rate Vacancyrate(Industrial) Mar 2011 āˆ’ Dec 2012 Jan 2013 āˆ’ Aug 2014 Sep 2014 Ownership/Rental Price Ratio RatioofAccomodationOwnership/RentRatio 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 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 6.6% Alberta 4.5% Ontario 7.0% Debt Service Ratios (SA) Percent 46810 Total Debt: 6.9% Mortgage: 3.5% Consumer Debt: 6.5% Housing Starts and Building Permits (smoothed) YoYPercentChange 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’40āˆ’2002040 Permits Starts www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 23
  • 24. European Indicators Unemployment Rates Percentage 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 051015202530 Business Employment Expectations Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’40āˆ’20010 Industrial Orderbook Levels Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’60āˆ’40āˆ’20020 Country Employment Expect. Unempl. (%) Bond Yields (%) Retail Turnover Manufacturing Turnover Inļ¬‚ation (YoY %) Industry Orderbook PMI Series Dates Dec 2014 Nov 2014 Nov 2014 Nov 2014 Oct 2014 Nov 2014 Dec 2014 Dec 2014 France -10.2 I 10.3 I 1.14 J 104.3 I 108.0 J 0.4 J -18.4 I 47.5 J Germany -2.7 I 5.0 K 0.72 J NA 113.5 I 0.5 J -9.4 J 51.2 I United Kingdom 10.7 I 5.9 K 1.72 J 113.1 I NA 1.3 I 5.0 J 52.5 J Italy -7.2 I 13.4 I 2.29 J NA NA 0.3 I -22.0 I 48.4 J Greece 2.9 J 25.8 J 8.10 I NA NA -1.2 I -15.5 J 49.4 I Spain -4.5 J 23.9 J 2.07 J NA NA -0.5 J -13.7 J 53.8 J Eurozone (EU28) -1.8 I 10.0 J 1.69 J 104.8 I 109.0 I 0.5 I -13.0 J NA www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 24
  • 25. Government Bond YieldsLongTermYields% 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 0246810 Economic Sentiment Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 60708090110130 Consumer Confidence Index 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’100āˆ’60āˆ’20020 Inflation (Harmonized Prices) 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 median: 2.00 Oct 2014: 0.40āˆ’1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Euro Area US Harmonized Inflation: Oct 2014 AUT 1.4% BGR āˆ’1.9% DEU 0.5% ESP āˆ’0.5% FIN 1.1% FRA 0.4% GBR 1.3% GRC āˆ’1.2% HUN 0.1% IRL 0.2% ISL āˆ’0.6% ITA 0.3% NOR 2.0% POL āˆ’0.3% ROU 1.5% SWE 0.3% <āˆ’1.0%0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% >7.0% YoY % Change in Prices PMI: December 2014 <40.042.0 44.0 46.0 48.0 50.0 52.0 54.0 56.0 58.0>60.0 Steady ExpandingContracting BRA 50.2 CAN 53.9 DEU 51.2 ESP 53.8 FRA 47.5 GBR 52.5 GRC 49.4 IRL 56.9 ITA 48.4 MEX 55.3 POL 52.8 SAU 57.9 TUR 51.4 USA 53.9 RUS 48.9 PMI Change: Nov āˆ’ Dec <āˆ’5.0āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 >5.0 PMI Change ImprovingDeteriorating CAN āˆ’1.4 DEU 1.7 ESP āˆ’0.9 FRA āˆ’0.9 GBR āˆ’1.0 GRC 0.3 IRL 0.7 ITA āˆ’0.6 POL āˆ’0.4 TUR āˆ’0.8 USA āˆ’0.9 RUS āˆ’2.8 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 25
  • 26. Chinese Indicators Tracking the Chinese economy is a tricky. As reported in the Fi- nancial Times, Premier Li Keqiang conļ¬ded to US oļ¬ƒcials in 2007 that gross domestic product was ā€œman madeā€ and ā€œfor reference onlyā€. 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 oļ¬ƒcial version put out by the Chinese government and diļ¬€ers 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 4045505560 Dec 2014: 49.60 Shanghai Composite Index IndexValue(MonthlyHigh/Low) 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 0100030005000 Jan 2015: 3351.45 Electricity Generated 100MillionKWH(logscale) 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 1000200030005000 Nov 2014: 4487.00 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 98100102104106108 median: 103.40 Nov 2014: 105.50 Exports YoYPercentChange 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 āˆ’20020406080 median: 18.70 Nov 2014: 4.70 Retail Sales Growth YoYPercentChange 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 101520 median: 13.10 Nov 2014: 11.70 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 26
  • 27. Global Climate Change 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 deļ¬ned as the diļ¬€erence from the average value over the period from 1961-1990 for precipitation and 1971-2000 for temperature. Average Temperature Anomalies from Jun 2014 - Nov 2014 <āˆ’4.0 āˆ’3.0 āˆ’2.0 āˆ’1.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 >4.0 Anomalies in Celcius WarmerCooler Anomalies in Celcius āˆ’4 āˆ’2 0 2 4 Average 6 month Precipitation Anomalies from Jun 2014 - Nov 2014 <āˆ’40.0 āˆ’30.0 āˆ’20.0 āˆ’10.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 >40.0 Anomalies in millimeters WetterDrier Anomalies in millimeters āˆ’40 āˆ’20 0 20 40 www.lairdresearch.com January 11, 2015 Page 27