Morning Journal--lower government spending = more growth

  News on Stocks in Our Portfolios courtesy of Seeking Alpha

General Mills (GIS): FQ3 EPS of $0.64 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $4.43B (+8% Y/Y) beats by $0.07B.

 

Economics

   This Week’s Data

            Weekly mortgage applications fell 7.1% while purchase applications dropped 4.0%.

            The FOMC met Tuesday and yesterday.  The language in the Fed statement subsequently released and press conference didn’t really change much from prior policy statements---though it was ever so slightly more positive.  Here is the red lined statement:

            http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/131474428?access_key=key-60bkiwfo04kljvzxg5v

            And FOMC economic projections (medium):

            http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/03/fomc-projections-and-press-conference.html

            Weekly jobless claims rose 2,000 versus expectations of an 8,000 increase.

   Other

            How decreased government spending improves the economy (short):

            http://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2013/03/understanding-house-budget-plan.html

            Household finances continue to improve (short):

            http://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2013/03/households-finances-continue-to-improve.html

            Architectural billings are up (short):

            http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/03/architecture-billings-indexes-for-commercial-real-estate-construction-are-rising-and-back-to-pre-recession-2007-levels/

Politics

  Domestic

More crony capitalism (medium):

http://michellemalkin.com/2013/03/20/penny-pritzker-a-chicago-fat-cat-for-commerce-secretary/

  International

            The dangers of a Chinese financial crisis (medium):

            http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/03/the-dangers-of-a-chinese-financial-crisis.html