- U.S. companies announced 102,943 job cuts in January 2023 which represented a 440% increase in layoffs since January 2022. 41% of the layoffs came from the technology sector alone.
- States are currently holding around $137 billion in rainy-day funds, which is the highest on record. If there is a recession this is helpful because state and local governments account for 11% of the US economy and 13% of all payrolls.
- A total of 57 Ponzi schemes were discovered in 2022, which was nearly a 70% increase in one year. In aggregate the schemes represented $5.3 billion dollars, with close to 60% of that value coming from crypto-related ponzi schemes.
- More than two-thirds of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported fourth-quarter earnings but only 69% of them have beat their earnings estimates (compared to 76% over the past four quarters).
MFS - "Beyond the News"
WSJ - "‘States Are Flush with Cash, Which Could Soften a Possible Recession"
Barrons - "Ponzi Schemes Surged in 2022. Many Involved Crypto"
Barrons - "Stock Market Has Its Worst Week of the Year. No News is Bad News."
Economic Calendar
Monday:
NY Fed 1-year inflation expectations (Jan), NY Fed 5-year inflation expectations (Jan)
Tuesday:
NFIB small-business index (Jan), Consumer price index (Jan), Core CPI (Jan), CPI (year-over-year) (Jan), Core CPI (year-over-year) (Jan)
Wednesday:
Retail sales (Jan), Retail sales excluding motor vehicles (Jan), Empire state manufacturing index (Feb), Industrial production index (Jan), Capacity utilization rate (Jan), NAHB home builders' index (Feb), Business inventories (Dec)
Thursday:
Initial jobless claims (Feb), Continuing jobless claims (Feb), Producer price index final demand (Jan), Building permits (Jan), Housing starts (Jan), Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey (Feb), Household debt (SAAR) (Q4)
Friday:
Import price index (Jan), Index of leading economic indicators (Jan)
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