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Strategies & Market Trends : Take the Money and Run -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (11936)	7/31/2002 7:25:34 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 17639

does this sound bullish? Reports from the rest of the Districts point to continued moderate growth. Overall, prices of finished goods and services remained stable, though there were scattered reports of price pressures. sounds like sputtering along to me..."exchanging dollars"... Beige Book: District reports suggest that the economy expanded modestly in recent weeks, with an uneven performance across sectors. Boston, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas noted some tapering off in economic growth, while Cleveland and St. Louis indicated some improvement. Reports from the rest of the Districts point to continued moderate growth. Overall, prices of finished goods and services remained stable, though there were scattered reports of price pressures. Retail sales were mixed, with four Districts indicating some weakening, but five reporting a pickup, partly weather-related. Retail inventories were said to be in good shape, and many retailers expressed optimism about the near-term sales outlook. Vehicle sales were seen as weak in June but were boosted by incentive programs in early July. Manufacturing activity, though mixed across Districts and industries, appears to have improved, on balance. Residential real estate and construction activity was widely described as strong, though some softness was reported in the rental segment. In contrast, commercial real estate was almost universally described as weak, though stable in some cases. Travel and tourism activity was reported to be little changed overall, with the Western Districts tending to fare somewhat better than those on the East Coast. Reports from other service industries mostly pointed to stable activity. Banks reported strong demand for residential mortgages, steady demand for consumer loans, and weak, but in some cases improving, demand for commercial loans. Credit quality was still described as good, with no significant increases reported in delinquency rates. Agricultural conditions were described as poor in a number of Districts. Labor markets were characterized as slack but relatively stable in most Districts; New York and Kansas City indicated some softening, but Richmond noted modest improvement. The pace of wage increases generally remained subdued, but many Districts noted continued escalation of non-wage benefit costs, most notably health insurance. Prices of raw materials were generally stable, though prices of steel, plastics, and lumber have risen noticeably. Prices of finished goods and services were generally flat. SPX rolling over? cache.wsrn.com