( Article ) The Tail of the Economic Crisis is Still Hurting the U.S

The Federal Reserve is buying Treasury notes and other unconventional measures remain an option, if the economy will not respond appropriately to actual policy rates. The currency markets, in the mean time, are waiting for the ECB decision. The line of least resistance has yet to be found.

Banks are under scrutiny in the U.S.

The state of the U.S economy stays critical, but signs of bottoming are beginning to emerge here and there. Durable good new orders, as an example, fell less than expected in March by 0.8% (-1.4% expected) versus Februarys rise of 2.1%. Declines were broad based, autos and metals are in red, but non-defense capital good orders rose 1.5% on the top of February’s gain of 4.3%. Rumors that some U.S. banks are under tight scrutiny are remanding us that the tail of the financial crisis is still in motion. However, the difficulty for the U.S. dollar to break above key resistance levels might be the confirmation that markets are already anticipating a stabilization of the economic process. The real estate market could lead the economic rebound, but inventories should decline from current high levels before the market will considerably pick up from the bottom.