Initial Claims at 6-1/2 Year Low

This morning, the Census Bureau reported that retail sales rose 0.3% last month which topped expectations of 0.2%. If we take out autos, retails sales rose by 0.3%. The report for January was revised downward from minus 0.4% to minus 0.6%. This was the first increase in retail sales in three months.

Atif Mian and Amir Sufi dug into the state-level data and found that, yep, it was the weather.

The evidence is pretty clear. New auto purchases in January 2014 were more than 5% down in states that were more than 7 degrees below their normal January temperature. New auto purchases were down slightly in states that were between -7 and -4 degrees below normal. In the rest of the country where temperatures were closer to normal, new auto purchases were quite strong.

The Department of Labor said that initial unemployment claims fell to 315,000 last week. That’s the sixth-lowest figure in the last six-and-a-half years.

On our Buy List, Cognizant Technology Solutions ($CTSH) is so far shaking off a weak announcement from Infosys ($INFY), a major competitor. INFY said that earnings will come in at the low end of their guidance.

Posted by on March 13th, 2014 at 9:46 am


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