Positive Reviews for “This Point Forward” by Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano...
We are pleased to announce that Graph Expo 2014 is the release date of the new book by me and Richard Romano, This Point Forward: The New Start the Marketplace Demands. Free hard copies will be made...
View ArticleIndustry Profits Remain Rangebound but Positive, Show Effects of...
Second quarter US commercial printing profits were $1.13 billion, based on the recent Quarterly Financial Report issued by the Department of Commerce and combined with other Commerce Department and...
View ArticleIncome Statistics Don’t Tell the Whole Economic Story
One of my favorite articles over the past decade has been “You are What You Spend” which appeared in the New York Times in 2008. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it explained that income data do...
View ArticleThe Fed’s quantitative easing is winding down… now what?
Janet Yellen has been handling the job of chairing the Federal Reserve quite well. We know because, like Alan Greenspan, no one knows what she means when she is being questioned in Congress or at a...
View ArticleMore Dr. Joe Ramblings: Forecasts, Drugstores, Statistics, Buybacks, and...
Walgreens drug stores had a big forecast error that cost executives their jobs. The CFO had to cut their forecast of revenues from pharmaceuticals paid by Medicare plans by $1 billion. That’s about a...
View ArticleDr. Joe Rambles About the USPS: Playing the Slots, the UPS Store, Casablanca,...
A Brooklyn post office stopped delivering mail, suddenly, when mailbox slots were determined to be too low. This was a shock to residents. The postmaster sent letters that he did not want the...
View ArticleFour Recovery Indicators Pull Back
The recovery indicators took a wallop this past month, with four of them pulling back, especially new orders for manufacturing. The NASDAQ had an erratic month but only had a -1.5% pullback despite...
View ArticleAugust US Commercial Printing Shipments Down -1% Compared to 2013
After two months of positive comparisons to 2013, August printing shipments fell by -$68 million (-1%) on a current dollar basis. On an inflation-adjusted basis, they were down -$192 million (-2.9%)....
View ArticleUnemployment Rate Falls to 5.9%; Magazine Employment Falls Below 100,000
The unemployment rate improved yet again and is now 5.9%. The improvement again comes mainly from the exit of workers from the labor force. Last month, -97,000 left the workforce. The labor force has...
View ArticleCan We Trust the Economic Data We Get?
In 2012, the New York Post economics writer John Crudele reported that there were problems with the employment surveys being conducted in the Philadelphia office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The...
View ArticleUpbeat Indicators and Employment Reports
The recovery indicators improved since last month, with continued good performance in the ISM indicators. Even the indicator that was down, non-manufacturing new orders, is still at a level that...
View ArticleSeptember Commercial Printing Shipments +3.9%; Employment Data Reflect Shift...
US commercial printing shipments had a good September, with shipments at nearly $6.8 billion, up $252 million (+3.9%, +$132 million or +2% after adjusting for inflation). Q3 shipments were up slightly,...
View ArticleDr. Joe’s Random Thoughts
The elections turned out a little different than discussed at Graph Expo, but the effects are the same. There I presented the idea that the races for the Senate might be tighter and that there might...
View ArticleUSPS’ October, More EDDM News, and Other Items
Back in July we presented data about USPS’ Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) and noted that the price increase resulted in a decrease in volume. Volume from the second calendar quarter did the same. That...
View ArticleRecovery Indicators Post Another Good Month
The recovery indicators had a generally good month, with increases in three of the ISM indicators and the NASDAQ. (click to enlarge) Falling oil prices helped make the manufacturers bullish about their...
View ArticleJune to October US Commercial Printing Shipments Up +$1 Billion Versus 2013
The industry had another good month compared to last year, with October shipments more than $7.1 billion, up $274 million (+4.0%, +$167 million or +2.4% after adjusting for inflation). June through...
View ArticlePublic Relations Employment Strong, Printing Employment Trend Flattens
Employment might be down from last year in the printing industry, but it has picked up slightly with the recent rise in shipments compared to 2013. It is not likely to be sustainable. There is still...
View ArticleChina’s GDP is Now Largest in the World: But What Does that Mean?
China’s rise on the economic stage is remarkable. The country is in a vast and sometimes traumatic transformation, with political and philosophical tugs of war underway culturally, socially, and...
View ArticleAd Agency Revenues Rise While Publishing Revenues are Not
Advertising agency revenues have risen from the inflation-adjusted annual rate of $80.6 billion to $115.1 billion in the last five years. This is not annual spending on advertising in the economy, but...
View ArticleProfits Retreat in Q3
Q3-2014 US commercial printing profits were $1.15 billion, down -12.9% compared to Q3-2014. Q3-2013 was the most recent peak of quarterly profits. The 4-quarter inflation-adjusted profits were $3.45...
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