Suitably Flip

Beige Book Appropriately Mealymouthed

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, its sequimonthly survey of economic conditions among the 12 Fed districts, was released today.  Judging the book by its cover might lead one to assume its contents to be bland and fuzzy.  This month-and-a-half, one would be accurate.

The U.S. economy appeared fragmented into pockets of strength and weakness, but, in general, economic activity continues to expand...

Four of the twelve Fed districts reported that growth had firmed in late September and early October, while two districts -- Philadelphia and Dallas -- reporting activity had "cooled."

Other districts reported growth as "moderate or mixed."

It seemed hard to find many national trends in the latest report. For every district that reported strong conditions, other districts reported weakness in the same sector.

If any overarching trends can be teased out of the report, they'd include observations that the residential real estate cooled while the national job market remained strong, with some regions reporting rising wage pressures.

Considering the mixed nature of the report, "the Fed is likely to do nothing" at upcoming meetings, said Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at Dresner Kleinwort.

All I can think of when reading these quotes is the Futurama episode in which Earth goes to war with the Neutral Planet.

"All I know is my gut says maybe..."

I believe the Neutrals even went on "beige alert" when under attack.

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Beige Book Appropriately Mealymouthed

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, its sequimonthly survey of economic conditions among the 12 Fed districts, was released today.  Judging the book by its cover might lead one to assume its contents to be bland and fuzzy.  This month-and-a-half, one would be accurate.

The U.S. economy appeared fragmented into pockets of strength and weakness, but, in general, economic activity continues to expand...

Four of the twelve Fed districts reported that growth had firmed in late September and early October, while two districts -- Philadelphia and Dallas -- reporting activity had "cooled."

Other districts reported growth as "moderate or mixed."

It seemed hard to find many national trends in the latest report. For every district that reported strong conditions, other districts reported weakness in the same sector.

If any overarching trends can be teased out of the report, they'd include observations that the residential real estate cooled while the national job market remained strong, with some regions reporting rising wage pressures.

Considering the mixed nature of the report, "the Fed is likely to do nothing" at upcoming meetings, said Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at Dresner Kleinwort.

All I can think of when reading these quotes is the Futurama episode in which Earth goes to war with the Neutral Planet.

"All I know is my gut says maybe..."

I believe the Neutrals even went on "beige alert" when under attack.