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Canada reported a larger than expected trade surplus earlier today.  At C$0.8 bln, it was four times larger than expected and the December figures were revised to show a C$0.1 bln surplus instead of a C$0.2 bln deficit.  Canada also reported a strong rise in Q4 capacity utilization rate to 70.9% from a revised 68.7% [...]

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According to Bundesbank President Axel Weber, Germany’s economic recovery is “essentially intact”, and is now set to benefit from stronger demand in countries outside the euro region.
“I firmly believe that the recovery process that began in summer 2009 is essentially intact, and that it will continue despite the slower growth dynamic in the winter semester. [...]

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This is a post by Edward Hugh, who also blogs at Global Economy Matters.
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed There’s a dyin’ voice within me [...]

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The February 2010 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® was released this morning. It indicated that the manufacturing sector was slightly less robust in February than January, with the PMI slipping from 58.4% to 56.5%. As 50 is still the demarcation between sector expansion and contraction, the data indicate that recovery continues apace in the manufacturing [...]

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This is a post by Edward Hugh, who also blogs at Global Economy Matters.
Global manufacturing activity continued to expand in February, albeit at a slightly weaker pace than in January. At 55.2, down slightly from 56.1 in January, the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted its second highest reading in almost four years. The average reading [...]

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This post originally appeared at Alpha.Sources.
It is a well known dictum in the context of economic analysis that you have to distinguish between stocks and flows and how focus on one in stead of the other lead to misguided analysis. It is the same with growth and levels with the former defined as the growth [...]

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Edward Hugh here.
Well, I may say there were no surprises, but in fact the Greek economy contracted more than many observers expected in the fourth quarter, while downward revisions to the rest of 2009 converted the present recession into the country’s worst since 1987. Evidently the latest numbers offer the first warning that all may [...]

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This post was originally published at A Fistful of Euros.
Well, as we say in English, it never rains but it pours. Latvia, which has had the deepest recession of all 27 European Union member states, contracted by nearly 18 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, when compared to the same period a year [...]

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This post was originally published at A Fistful of Euros
Well, as reported over the weekend on this blog, the EU Commission did in fact demand “more sacrifices” from the Greek people, and in the end Prime Minister Papandreou had to make a last minute TV appearance to explain to his incredulous listeners that the time [...]

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Below is a Jim Chanos video on China now making the rounds in the financial blogosphere. 
Chanos says that most financial bubbles are the result of excess credit creation and believes that is exactly what we are witnessing in China.  Although Chanos sees serious overcapacity problems in China, he is not calling for a market [...]