by Calculated Risk on 6/22/2014 08:51:00 PM

This is a funny sentence from the WSJ on inflation: Inflation Is Back on Wall Street Agenda

For years, critics have warned that the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies would produce massive inflation. So far, they have been wrong.

"So far"? Come on - those predicting "massive inflation" were dead wrong. Period.

Update: And an excellent overview from Tim Duy: Inflation Hysteria

Monday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May. This is a composite index of other data.

• At 10:00 AM, Existing Home Sales for May from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for sales of 4.75 million on seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) basis. Sales in April were at a 4.65 million SAAR. Economist Tom Lawler estimates the NAR will report sales of 4.81 million SAAR.

Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of June 22nd

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: the S&P futures are unchanged and DOW futures are up slightly (fair value).

Oil prices were mixed over the last week with WTI futures at $107.13 per barrel and Brent at $115.01 per barrel.

Below is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are around $3.68 per gallon, up about a dime from a year ago. If you click on "show crude oil prices", the graph displays oil prices for WTI, not Brent; gasoline prices in most of the U.S. are impacted more by Brent prices.

Orange County Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com

by Calculated Risk on 6/22/2014 12:49:00 PM

Kathleen Pender points out three reasons gasoline prices haven't risen sharply yet: 1) Geography in Iraq, 2) seasonal factors, and 3) domestic production. From the San Francisco Chronicle: 3 reasons Iraq conflict isn't driving up gas prices (yet)

The fighting is mainly in the northern part of Iraq. Its main oil production and export facilities are in the south, where Shiites dominate. ... Most experts do not expect the Sunni rebels to invade the south, which accounts for about 90 percent of Iraq's oil production and exports.
...
Prices typically fall in June, when refineries are revved up and ready to go but families still have kids in school. They go up again in July and August, when vacationers take to the roads. ... This June, prices have been mostly steady, which amounts to a stealth increase.
...
U.S. production has gone from about 5.5 million barrels a day to almost 8.5 million in the past three years, and could hit 10 million within a few years ... reduced reliance on Mideast oil is blunting the impact of the Iraq conflict.

And a couple of articles on oil from Jim Hamilton: Iraq, oil markets, and the U.S. economy and Gasoline price calculator

by Calculated Risk on 6/21/2014 01:11:00 PM

There are several key reports this week: New and Existing home sales for May, Case-Shiller house prices for April, the 3rd estimate of Q1 GDP, and the May Personal Income and Outlays.

For manufacturing, the June Richmond and Kansas City Fed surveys will be released.

----- Monday, June 23rd -----
8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May. This is a composite index of other data.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for May from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The consensus is for sales of 4.75 million on seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) basis. Sales in April were at a 4.65 million SAAR. Economist Tom Lawler estimates the NAR will report sales of 4.81 million SAAR.

A key will be the reported year-over-year increase in inventory of homes for sale.

----- Tuesday, June 24th -----
9:00 AM: FHFA House Price Index for April. This was original a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index. The consensus is for a 0.5% increase.

9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for April. Although this is the April report, it is really a 3 month average of February, March and April.

This graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10 and Composite 20 indexes through March 2014 (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The consensus is for a 11.4% year-over-year increase in the Composite 20 index (NSA) for April. The Zillow forecast is for the Composite 20 to increase 11.8% year-over-year, and for prices to increase 1.2% month-to-month seasonally adjusted.

10:00 AM: New Home Sales for May from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the April sales rate.

The consensus is for an in increase in sales to 441 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in May from 433 thousand in April.

10:00 AM: Conference Board's consumer confidence index for June. The consensus is for the index to increase to 83.7 from 83.0.

10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for June.  The consensus is for a reading of 7, unchanged from 7 in May.

----- Wednesday, June 25th -----
7:00 AM: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for May from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.4% increase in durable goods orders.

8:30 AM: Q1 GDP (third estimate). This is the third estimate of Q1 GDP from the BEA. The consensus is that real GDP decreased 1.8% annualized in Q1, revised down from the second estimate of a 1.0% decrease.

----- Thursday, June 26th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 313 thousand from 312 thousand.

8:30 AM: Personal Income and Outlays for May. The consensus is for a 0.4% increase in personal income, and for a 0.4% increase in personal spending. And for the Core PCE price index to increase 0.2%.

11:00 AM: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for May.

----- Friday, June 27th -----
9:55 AM: Reuter's/University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (final for June). The consensus is for a reading of 82.0, up from the preliminary reading of 81.2, and up from the May reading of 81.9.

by Calculated Risk on 6/21/2014 08:19:00 AM

This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources.

Here is the unofficial problem bank list for June 20, 2014.

Changes and comments from surferdude808:

A couple bank failures and an update from the OCC on its enforcement action activities contributed to several changes to the Unofficial Problem Bank List. In all, there were six removals that push the list count down to 488 institutions with assets of $152.6 billion. In comparison, there were 751 institutions with assets of $273 billion on the list a year ago.

The OCC terminated actions against Eagle National Bank, Upper Darby, PA ($190 million); The First National Bank and Trust Company of Broken Arrow, Broken Arrow, OK ($189 million); Lee County Bank & Trust, National Association, Fort Madison, IA ($148 million); and First National Bank Northwest Florida, Panama City, FL ($108 million).

The failure plagued states of Florida and Illinois experienced a failure each this Friday. The River Valley Bancorp, Inc., Davenport, IA, saw its two banking subsidiaries that each operate under the name Valley Bank fail. The larger Valley Bank with assets of $456 million was located in Moline, Illinois, while its smaller sister with $82 million of assets was located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Since the on-set of the Great Recession, there have been 71 failures in Florida and 59 in Georgia. Both states only trail Georgia which has an astonishing 87 failures but none so far this year.

Next week we anticipate the FDIC will release an update on its enforcement action activities. With it being the last Friday of the quarter, we will provide an update on transition matrix.

CR Note: The first unofficial problem bank list was published in August 2009 with 389 institutions. The list peaked at 1,002 institutions on June 10, 2011, and is now down to 494.

by Calculated Risk on 6/20/2014 06:35:00 PM

From the FDIC: Great Southern Bank, Reeds Spring, Missouri, Assumes All of the Deposits of Valley Bank, Moline, Illinois

As of March 31, 2014, Valley Bank had approximately $456.4 million in total assets and $360.0 million in total deposits. ... The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $51.4 million. ... Valley Bank is the 10th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the third in Illinois.

From the FDIC: Landmark Bank, National Association, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Assumes All of the Deposits of Valley Bank, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

As of March 31, 2014, Valley Bank had approximately $81.8 million in total assets and $66.5 million in total deposits. ... The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $7.7 million. ... Valley Bank is the 11th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Florida.

A two for Friday!