Street Capitalist: Event Driven Value Investments

Today we saw the release of The Federal Reserve’s beige book covering mid-July through late August. Overall, the report indicated that the economy is continuing on a pace of modest expansion.

The release reaffirmed the Fed’s belief that the current credit-market movement has only had a limited effect on the economy beyond housing according to its regional business survey.

The Fed reported that “credit availability and credit quality remained good for most consumer and business borrowers”

The St. Louis and Kansas City districts reported “a moderate pace” of expansion
The Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland Districts reported an economic expansion at a “modest rate”
Philidelphia and San Fransico both reported expansion but at slower rates.
The Dallas, Richmond, Atlanta, and Boston districts all reported slower expansion rates.

Most Districts reported that manufacturing activity expanded during late July and early August. New York, Richmond, Minneapolis, and San Francisco indicated solid growth. Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis stated that manufacturing expanded but at a slower pace. Manufacturing was stable to increasing slightly in Cleveland, Kansas City, and Dallas, but was described as mixed in Boston and Atlanta.

Retail sales were “generally positive, with increases characterized as modest to moderate,” except in Cleveland.

Nearly every District reported at least modest increases in employment during the recent survey period. The lone exception was Chicago, which, instead, characterized employment conditions as mixed. Philadelphia and San Francisco made no statement characterizing overall changes in District employment. New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Dallas described their labor markets as tight.