• Over the past week executives with the three largest North American  railroads reported that not only are their profits up, they believe the business environment is so good they are rehiring more laid off workers and even adding new staff as imports of consumer goods pick up and exports of coal, metals and grains rise.   If railroads are confident enough to hire back or even add new workers; that is a sign that their customers (i.e., businesses) are producing and selling more goods, which is a positive omen for the economy. 
• Oil companies have ramped up drilling activity in response to higher oil and gas prices. 
• In an effort to keep interest rates low and boost the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has decided to continue its plan to buy $600 billion of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds.  Federal Reserve policy makers believe that the economy is in a slow recovery and even though commodity prices have risen, long-term inflation expectations have remained stable.  Bottom line, the Federal Reserve is going to do all it can to nudge economic growth. 
• American Express reported this week that its customers increased their spending by 15% in the fourth quarter of last year. Read more

Wednesday’s and Thursday’s market downturns signaled that the stocks may be taking a pause.  The U.S. and many overseas markets have been progressing upward nicely with minimal retrenchment.  As a matter of fact, Barron’s, a weekly investment magazine, noted this prior weekend (January 17, 2011) that the Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJIA) had not suffered a one-day loss of more than 1% since last Thanksgiving.  Is this unusual? You bet it is!  1965 was the last time the DJIA’s went this long without a larger correction. 

As a result, market volatility is down, and investors are becoming lackadaisical.  As I have noted in prior commentaries, it would not be surprising to see a correction, maybe in the range of 5% – 10%, at some point before the market moves upward to new highs this year.  A downward trend for a couple of days, weeks or even a month or two, is not the end of the world, but just reality. Read more

• Developed markets like the U.S. and Europe are old hat, but developing markets like the BRICs; Brazil, India, China and Russia are currently the “in” crowd.  However, emerging markets like Africa are the next hot area.  In the U.S. we have growing concerns regarding the fiscal health of our middle class, but the emerging market countries are seeing a rise in number of their middle class and businesses are rushing to capture them.  One example of this is in Kenya where several large international telecommunication firms are battling for cell phone subscribers. 
• Just today I received an e-mail from LinkedIn (an online professional networking tool) that showed in 2010 approximately 21% of the professionals I’m connected with changed jobs or their career paths.  Read more

Payroll processor Automatic Data Processing and Macreconomic Advisors, LLC, a consulting firm, issued a report this week stating that the private sector (i.e., non-governmental entities) added 297,000 jobs last month.  Other positive items were the Federal Reserve’s announcement that weekly commercial and industrial loans loan growth was back in positive territory for the first time since late 2008, and the Commerce Department reporting that factory orders increased in November.  Also, MasterCard Advisors’ Spending Pulse report noted that retail spending of all kinds during the holiday season reported its largest gain in five years. Read more