Morning Journal--More confusion over Fed policy

News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

W.W. Grainger, Inc. beats by $0.11, revenues in line

o    W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW): Q1 EPS of $3.07 beats by $0.11.

o    Revenue of $2.39B (+4.8% Y/Y) in-line.

Economics

   This Week’s Data

            The International Council of Shopping Centers reported weekly sales of major retailers down 0.3% versus the prior week but up 2.3% on a year over year basis; Redbook Research reported month to date retail chain store sales down 1.0% versus the comparable period last month but up 2.6% versus the similar timeframe a year ago.

            Weekly mortgage applications rose 4.3% while purchase applications were up 1.0%.

            March housing starts advanced 2.8% versus estimates of up 6.3%.

            http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2014/04/housing-starts-at-946-thousand-annual.html

   Other

           
            A closer look at Monday’s March retail sales number (medium):

            http://www.alhambrapartners.com/2014/04/14/ignorance-or-deceit/

            The US economy in charts (medium):

            http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-15/us-economy-pictures

            Adding to the confusion over Fed policy (short):

            http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-15/tuesday-humor-biggest-fed-dove-concerned-about-real-erosion-peoples-purchasing-power

            And possibly this (short):

            http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-15/shocking-buying-spree-americas-mysterious-third-largest-treasury-holder-ramps-higher

            Two measures of inflation (medium):

            http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/CPI-PCE-Comparison.php

            And (short):

            http://blog.yardeni.com/2014/04/the-feds-questionable-inflation-mandate.html

            Homebuilder sentiment declines (short):

            http://www.bespokeinvest.com/thinkbig/2014/4/15/homebuilder-sentiment-declines.html

Politics

  Domestic

Thought police (medium):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-thought-police-on-patrol/2014/04/10/2608a8b2-c0df-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html

Statistical frauds (medium):

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2014/04/15/statistical-frauds-n1824357

Quote of the day (short):

http://cafehayek.com/2014/04/quotation-of-the-day-962.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CafeHayek+%28Cafe+Hayek%29