The US Industrial economy advanced again last week (if pipeline scheduling is correct), as robust consumer spending strengthened into January.The Production Index (In terms of its 28-day moving average of gas-flow scheduling into US industrial facilities) rose for its second week in a row (and again set a new high), rising to 121.2 (from last weeks 120.5). In its dailies (See the "Part 7" posts on the Investor Village site) the index was volatile though firm throughout the week (especially against seasonals).
The Consumption Index also rose smartly to 142.9 (from last weeks 139.0). In its dailies the measure was impressively strong throughout the week.
The Inventories measure (the cumulative weekly difference between the Production Index and the Consumption Index) continued in its long-term decline.
The Food Group (see "Part 8" posts on the Investor Village site) continues as a concern, hovering near recession-highs. The Food group has a contra-relationship with consumption, and gains to the measure generally coincide with weakness in consumer spending.
Overall, the economy looks to be well supported by the resurgence of strong consumer spending, renewed and continuing strength in industrial production (and presumably hiring), declining inventories, and probably (on the investor / business end of society) higher confidence from political changes since November.
ROBRY DATA MOVES TO ENERCAST (http://www.firstenercastfinancial.com/energy/)
For those following the natural gas markets, First Enercast Financial has picked up the data I share on their web site, and (in a collaborative effort) offers Robry825 modeled data both in text and in downloadable ".ods" (Open Document Spreadsheet) data formats. The new Enercast site is now the primary, most comprehensive site for obtaining Robry825 gas-flow data... including years of historical back-data from my modeling that you can now download and access for spreadsheet modeling, charting, etc.(First Enercast also shares my appreciation for the public domain, so the Robry825 data downloads will continue to be free of cost and free of restrictions... and can be shared with friends, reposted, published (etc) at your discretion... for the better of all).
Also linked through the site is a computer spreadsheet application ("Robry-Calc")... an offering of the software that I personally use to produce the data that I share, which was progressively developed by Citadel5 Software Development Services (a European firm that I consider the worlds foremost in spreadsheet design).
I am very excited for the chance to offer this spreadsheeting software, and I believe it to be in many ways revolutionary (a photo of one of my worksheets can be found below, which when clicked upon will enlarge to an example from a dual-monitor configuration). The spreadsheet is simple to use on its surface (for a novice), but is packed with advanced features buried within to allow it to unfold into very large, complex, powerful configurations.Moreover, having a spreadsheet to offer gives me a path to explore in the future... towards perhaps publicly sharing the models themselves in the future (even the possibility of going open source), in the hopes that others might be able to build upon and improve upon what I offer.
Also, should the software really take off, its revenues could help not only to fund and expand the new Enercast collaborative site, but potentially to purchase whole data sets and analysis for conversion to public domain (at least one can dream).
-Robry825
