Housing starts are expected to decline to 1.168 million units (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in tomorrow’s October update, according to The Capital Spectator’s average point forecast of several econometric estimates. The projection represents a modest retreat from 1.206 million units in the previous month’s report for residential construction activity.
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Industrial output continued to contract last month, according to this morning’s report from the Federal Reserve. US production slipped 0.2% in October, dashing expectations for a mild gain via two surveys of economists. The decline leaves the year-over-year trend higher by only 0.3%–the weakest advance in nearly six years.
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Bloomberg reports that “one of Wall Street’s biggest bulls” has cooled on consumer stocks and is shifting to energy shares: “Thomas Lee, managing partner at Fundstrat Global Advisors, has opted to upgrade energy to overweight while downgrading the consumer discretionary sector, citing rising labor costs and the inverse relationship between energy and consumer-oriented stocks over the past decade and a half.”
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● NY Fed mfg index falls for 4th straight month in Nov | AP
● US consumers plan to spend more this Christmas | Gallup
● UK inflation still falling in Oct | Bloomberg
● ZEW: Economic sentiment in Germany rises in Nov | Reuters
● Limited impact on markets from Paris attacks | Reuters
● Measuring the economic costs of terrorism | NY Times
● France won’t meet deficit targets due to terrorism | MNI