The Empire State Manufacturing Survey for January Shows Business Activity Declined at the Fastest Pace Since 2008

The report indicates that New York manufacturers’ business activity declined at the fastest pace since 2008…The Great Recession. The new orders and shipments indexes plummeted, indicating a steep decline in both orders and shipments.

US Raw Steel Production Rose

US raw steel production rose 1.1 percent last week, continuing its climb, as mills operated at an ACUR of 72.8 percent. In the corresponding week last year mills operated at an ACUR of 72.4 percent. Thus far this year mills have produced approx. 11,400,000 tons at an ACUR of 68.7 percent compared to approx. 12,400,000 tons at an ACUR of 74.4 percent.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve January 2016 Report on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

Industrial Production increased 0.9 percent after decreasing 0.7 percent in December.

Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased 0.7 percentage point to 77.1 percent, a rate that is 2.9 percentage points below its long-run (1972-2015) average.”

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index Reports the Index (LEI) Declined 0.2 Percent in January

The US LEI fell slightly in January, driven primarily by large declines in stock prices and further weakness in initial claims for unemployment insurance. Despite back to back monthly declines, the index doesn’t signal a significant increase in the risk of recession and its six month growth rate remains consistent with a modest economic expansion through early 2016.

Ataman Ozyildirim
Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at the Conference Board

(that’s no comfort since we are halfway through the first quarter)

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia February 2016 Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey

The survey reported continued weakness in business conditions this month.
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The Hellfire missile mistakenly sent to Cuba in 2014 has been located and returned to its rightful owner…the United States.

Trump’s Ungracious Attack

I was not very pleased at Trump’s attack on G.W. Bush on the debate stage Saturday night. Did 9/11 occur on his watch? Yes it did. Everyone (besides Bernie Sanders) supported the administration in getting rid of Saddam Hussein, a majority of the American people and a majority of our lawmakers.

Yes, there was apparently some intelligence about something in the works as far as an attack but there was no firm idea what kind of attack? From where? By whom? I cannot believe, I do not believe that such information would have been ignored had it been known. If that IS true, we are really screwed.

Anyway, attacking the Bush family for old news is a liberal tactic; they have been blaming him for everything for years. I personally like the guy and what he did while in office…though he did seem to lose it at the end of his term. Sending everyone checks for $160 is no way to stimulate the economy (to the tune of $800 million I believe).

Antonin Scalia: Historic Conservative Jurist

We lost a great conservative jurist over the weekend as Reagan appointee Antonin Scalia, age 79, passed away while on a hunting trip in South Texas. The battle to appoint a successor has begun with Republicans wanting the selection deferred to the next president while President Obama has said he will submit a nomination in short order.

Pope v Trump

Get this…Pope Francis attacked Trump, saying he “is not a Christian. Christians don’t build walls, they build bridges.” Hmmm…ever see the wall around the Vatican? It’s forty or fifty feet high. I wonder who built that. I am a Catholic and respect the pope but I do NOT think he should be inserting himself and his opinions into the American political process.

Islamic Camp Destroyed

US warplanes struck an Islamic state training camp in Libya that sought to kill a long sought senior member of the extremist group. This piece of camel crap was presumably killed in the attack along with at least 40 other useless turds. USA! USA! USA!

Have a great weekend…. God bless America!

Buy American made products whenever you can, it’s good for you, good for your friends and neighbors and good for our country.

If you are hiring…try to hire a veteran…. they are loyal, disciplined, hardworking…and they deserve our support.

Remember these tidbits as the election cycle grinds on:

  • Fast & Furious-Americans killed by guns supplied to the drug cartels…by the Department of Justice-Eric Holder presiding. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Benghazi: Four Americans killed in an assault described as the result of a viral video. This was proved to be a false narrative. This was in fact, a planned act of terror. The president was clueless. No one even knows where he was as this went down. No one held accountable
  • “At this point, what difference does it make?” Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State
  • The IRS targeting of conservative groups and individuals. No one held accountable, Lois Lerner is on paid vacation and has refused to testify. The president was clueless. No one held accountable
  • Hillary using a private server for correspondence during her term as Secretary of State against the orders of the president. She thought “it would be more convenient…” Though the records were due when she left office, they were not submitted, subpoenas were issued, which she ignored for two years. Finally, she released 30,000 of some 60,000 alleged emails then she deleted the rest of the emails and will NOT turn over the server for investigation.