Free Republic

The US current account deficit shrank dramatically in Q4.Beating expectations of -$129 billion by 8 standard deviations, the $112.4 billion print is the smallest deficit since Q2 2015. So 30 economists were way off the estimate with both trade and capital inflows improving -  the balance of goods and services deficit widened to $132.32b (compared to $116.23b prior quarter), and the balance on primary income widened to $61.5b (compared to $41.6b prior quarter).The current account deficit represents 2.4% of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter after 2.5% in the prior quarter.This smaller-than-expected current account balance is a positive for...

The U.S. current-account deficit fell to $118 billion in the second quarter, or 3.1% of GDP, from first-quarter levels of $119.6 billion, or 3.2% of GDP...

Dec. 11, 2006 Greenspan sees a sinking dollar Bloomberg News Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the dollar will probably keep falling because it's unlikely that international fund managers will continue to increase their allocations to the U.S. currency. Russia and other oil-producing currencies are shifting their assets out of dollars toward the euro and yen, a Bank for International Settlements quarterly report showed Monday. Greenspan said the dollar, heading for its fourth annual decline in the past five years, will probably keep falling until the U.S. current-account deficit diminishes. "It's imprudent to hold everything in one currency," Greenspan...

The current account deficit widened to its highest level ever in January.As the deficits grows, due to loose monetary policy and overspending, so do the worries about the US dollar and economy. Here's an interesting link to a negative economic assesment from respected Swiss economist Dr. Marc Faber ("Dr. Doom"). Dr. Faber is famous for correctly predicting asset bubbles, such as the that led to the 'Asian Flu'.

down Fri Jun 17, 2005 09:37 AM ET (Recasts, updates prices, adds reaction to U.S. data, comment and quotes; changes dateline, previous LONDON, byline) By Jamie McGeever NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - The dollar was weaker on Friday, kept under selling pressure by data showing that the U.S. current account deficit widened to a record $195.1 billion in the first quarter. The deficit, running at a record 6.4 percent of gross domestic product, was wider than the $190 billion forecast by economists. The deficit in the fourth quarter of last year was also revised to a slightly wider $188.36...

Thursday, June 16, 2005 Establishment Beginning to Pay Attention Author: Jim Sinclair Since May the establishment has quietly begun to listen and will continue to do so. What I told you would transpire has in fact happened. You know this by the courage of Mr. Peter G. Peterson, a man of such stature that when speaking on financial TV he cannot be interrupted by producers who don't like his script. That is not to say that the drop dead, beautiful, central-casting interviewer did not try to place words in this gentleman's mouth. That strategy fell flat on its face. Mr....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly to $55.0 billion in March in the largest monthly drop in over three years, as exports rose to a new record and clothing and other imports from China declined, a U.S. government report showed on Wednesday. The 9.2 percent plunge in the deficit defied Wall Street forecasts. Analysts had expected high oil prices and a flood of clothing from China to push the monthly trade gap to around $61.5 billion, which would have been a new record. The sharp pullback in imports offered further evidence that the economy hit a soft...

Key members of the Federal Reserve Board and a cadre of Wall Street economists have become fixated on the current account deficit as a worrying symptom of economic distress and a sign of impending crisis. This has led a host of Reserve Bank presidents and Fed governors to imply that the dollar should fall in order to rectify imbalances before a crisis becomes inevitable. Since the theory of imbalances holds that a crisis eventually will ensue, destructive policy actions that surely would trigger a crisis are being advanced as “solutions” to a non-problem. Steep tax increases to augment “savings,” a...

US Q3 current acct gap narrowed to $135.04 b Tuesday December 16, 8:31 am ET WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. current account, seasonally adjusted, as reported by the U.S. Commerce Department. In Billions of Dlrs/Credits: . Q3'03 Q2'03 Rev from Q3'02 Current Account -135.04 -139.39 -138.67 -122.72 Goods Balance -136.23 -138.09 -137.98 -123.31 Services Balance 14.92 13.90 14.57 16.33 Invest.Income Bal. 2.60 1.73 1.68 -1.75 Total Exports 322.01 311.79 311.00 313.94 Goods Exports 177.86 174.25 174.03 174.32 Services Exports 76.81 73.24 73.96 73.50 In Billions of Dlrs/Credits: . Q3'03 Q2'03 Rev from Q3'02 Total Imports -440.74 -434.25 -432.73...