The Trump economy gains steam

You'd never know about the Trump economy by searching most news sites, including Bloomberg and MarketWatch.  On the other hand, CNBC's Rick Santelli was plenty impressed with the Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators October surprise.

And First Trust chief economist Brian Wesbury seems prepared to rename what he had been calling the "Plow Horse" Economy.

We've called it a "Plow Horse" economy, which was our metaphor invented to counter forecasters who said slow growth meant a recession was on its way.  A Plow Horse is always slow, but that slowness hides underlying strength – it was never going to slip and fall.  Now, the economy is accelerating.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, monthly data releases show real GDP growing at a 3%+ annual rate.  If that holds, it would make for three consecutive quarters of growth at 3% or higher. Believe it or not, the last time that happened was 2004.

Last week saw retail sales, industrial production, and housing starts all come in better than expected for October, the latter two substantially better.

And while retail sales grew "just" 0.2% in October, that came on the back of a 1.9% surge in September.  Overall sales, and those excluding volatile components like autos, gas and building materials, all signal a robust consumer[.] ...

As a result of all this data, the Atlanta Fed's "GDP Now" model says real GDP is growing at a 3.4% annual rate in Q4.  The New York Fed's "Nowcast" says 3.8%[.] ...

The Obama and Bush regulatory State is being dismantled piece by piece, and spending growth has slowed relative to GDP.  Tax cuts are moving through Congress.  These positive developments have monetary velocity – the speed at which money moves through the economy – picking up.  "Animal spirits" are stirring.  We don't have a cute name for it, but growth is accelerating.

One can only wonder if and when more congressional Republicans will decide to climb aboard the Trump train.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/11/the_trump_economy_gains_steam.html