US industrial production is expected to rise 0.3% in tomorrow’s December report vs. the previous month, according to The Capital Spectator’s median point forecast for several econometric estimates. The median prediction reflects a substantial deceleration in growth vs. the previous month’s 1.3% advance.
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It’s a forgone conclusion in the markets that the European Central Bank will soon roll out a quantitative easing program—buying government bonds with newly printed money. Yesterday’s legal ruling paves the way for no less—a lawyer at the European Court of Justice said that the ECB’s bond-buying program doesn’t run afoul of EU law. But otherwise the subject of the ECB and QE is morass of uncertainty. In fact, it’s fair to say that the outlook for what can be achieved with the next phase of monetary stimulus, and how it will proceed, is a tangled web of unknown unknowns at this point.
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● US retail sales drop the most in 11 months, but seen as a blip | Reuters
● US Import Prices Fall Sharply In Dec Amid Lower Fuel Prices | RTT
● Atlanta Fed: Inflation expectations slip for 2015 to 1.7% | Atlanta Fed
● Fed’s Beige Book: concern over consumer spending, slumping oil | MarketWatch
● German Economy Grows 1.5% In 2014; Fastest In 3 Years | RTT
● India’s central bank announces surprise interest rate cut | Reuters
● Swiss National Bank scraps minimum exchange rate vs euro | AP/WaPo