Fed Beige Book 07/25/07
Fed Beige Book
Household lending declined in most regions, household credit quality deteriorated marginally.
Most Districts said that residential construction and real estate activity continued to decline.
Ongoing input cost pressures, particularly for petroleum-related inputs, while prices at the retail level continued to increase at a moderate rate.
A number of Districts noted that high gas prices restrained spending; Chicago also noted a negative impact from high food prices.
Five regions indicated that retail sales of items related to housing--such as furniture and home repair materials--were weak or declining.
Manufacturers of housing-related products (lumber, stone, glass, cement, appliances, and furniture) typically reported declines.
Prices of some construction materials, such as lumber and cement, declined in parts of the country.
New vehicle sales in many areas were described as "flat" or "lackluster.
The Atlanta District bore the brunt of an expanding drought, which hurt crop development in the Chicago and Richmond Districts as well.
Forage and pastures were bad enough in the Atlanta and Richmond Districts that livestock herds were reduced.
The Nattering One muses... will Bennie & The Feds cut at the end of October, as they should, or will they continue to fiddle and watch as Nero did...
David M. Jones, president and chief executive of DMJ Advisors in Denver and a former economist at the New York Fed:
Bernanke "will have to begin to start cutting rates before the end of the year. I don't see him doing that.
They're going to continue to worry about inflation while Rome burns on the credit side."
Household lending declined in most regions, household credit quality deteriorated marginally.
Most Districts said that residential construction and real estate activity continued to decline.
Ongoing input cost pressures, particularly for petroleum-related inputs, while prices at the retail level continued to increase at a moderate rate.
A number of Districts noted that high gas prices restrained spending; Chicago also noted a negative impact from high food prices.
Five regions indicated that retail sales of items related to housing--such as furniture and home repair materials--were weak or declining.
Manufacturers of housing-related products (lumber, stone, glass, cement, appliances, and furniture) typically reported declines.
Prices of some construction materials, such as lumber and cement, declined in parts of the country.
New vehicle sales in many areas were described as "flat" or "lackluster.
The Atlanta District bore the brunt of an expanding drought, which hurt crop development in the Chicago and Richmond Districts as well.
Forage and pastures were bad enough in the Atlanta and Richmond Districts that livestock herds were reduced.
The Nattering One muses... will Bennie & The Feds cut at the end of October, as they should, or will they continue to fiddle and watch as Nero did...
David M. Jones, president and chief executive of DMJ Advisors in Denver and a former economist at the New York Fed:
Bernanke "will have to begin to start cutting rates before the end of the year. I don't see him doing that.
They're going to continue to worry about inflation while Rome burns on the credit side."
Comments