Monthly Archives

March 2014

US Daily Cash Deficit 3/17/2014

By | Daily Deficit

The US Daily Cash Surplus for Monday 3/17/2014 was $44B, wiping out the monthly deficit to date and pushing us to a $3B surplus for the month through 17 days.

2014-03-17 USDD

This revenue surge was not unexpected….the $21B of corporate taxes collected makes up for the shortfall noted yesterday, and pushes 2014 to $33B vs $30B in 2013 over the same 17 days…..good for a 10% increase…thus answering that question….corporate taxes are certainly not collapsing at this point in time. For the year (through 76 days) corporate taxes are up 16% over 2013.

There really aren’t any big items left this month other than the day to day swings we normally see. My monthly forecast stands at $15B deficit, but given the trend, it is looking like ending the month with a small surplus is a definite possibility if revenues continue to over perform expectations and refunds continue to fall short.

US Daily Cash Deficit 3/14/2014

By | Daily Deficit

The US Daily Cash Surplus for Friday 3/14/2014 was $4.8B, following the 3/13 deficit of $5.4B, leaving the March 2014 deficit through 14 days to $41B.

2014-03-14 USDD

Looking at revenue…we appear to have taken a large step back to -$12B YOY, but what we really have is a timing issue with corporate taxes that will likely work itself out after tomorrow’s report. Ignoring corporate taxes, revenue through almost half the month still looks on track to match the ~10% or so gains we’ve seen over the first two months. Refunds are still trending down… at -$7B so far, though we are still up for the year.

Outlays are down $40B….$35B due to the shift into February, and the remaining likely due to the extra day 2013 has over 2014 so far due to how we are syncing the days up. Put it all together and it’s still looking like a pretty good month….outlays will almost certainly be down big, and revenue is trending up.

 

US Daily Cash Deficit 3/12/2014

By | Daily Deficit

The US Daily Cash Deficit for Wednesday 3/12/2014 was $14.0B driven primarily by the second round of SS payments going out in the amount of $12.9B. This brings the March 2014 cash deficit through 12 days to $40B.

2014-03-12 USDD

My last post was 3/10…..the last 2 days have more or less followed last year’s script, though revenues are up ~2B as are outlays…..netting to zero. Refunds continue to trail last year….down 17% YOY, or about $7B, which explains most of the revenue variance as well. For what it’s worth this early in the month, withheld taxes look solid…..another +10% YOY gain certainly looks possible. No post tomorrow…our next test is going to be corporate taxes. They are due the 15th, but since this is a weekend, we should see them sprinkled between Friday and Monday….so hopefully by Tuesday we’ll have a good idea what they are looking like.

Put it all together, and the $15B forecast I put out earlier in the month still looks good to me. I’m not saying it will be right….just that nothing has happened over the last week of actuals to materially change my outlook.

US Daily Cash Deficit 3/10/2014

By | Daily Deficit

Light posting this week due to Spring Break, but here’s your chart for 3/10/2014:

2014-03-10 USDD

The month looks to be shaping up nicely with refunds losing ground to last year and revenues continuing the strong pace we’ve seen through the first 2 months. there is plenty of time left for anything to happen, but no material surprises…yet.

 

US Daily Cash Deficit 3/5/2014

By | Daily Deficit

The US Daily Cash Surplus for Wednesday 3/5/2014 was $1.1B bringing the March 2014 cash deficit to $17B through 5 days.

2014-03-05 USDD

Of note for the day…$2B of taxes not withheld were received….a March daily record going back to 2006…which is as far as my daily records go back. For reference, last March booked $9.5B for the full month, with a max of $1.1B and an average of about $450M. I don’t know if it means anything, or if it’s an anomaly. However, I do have one contact who thinks we are on the verge of having a huge revenue month in April due in part to the tax hikes that went into effect in 2013….and will be fully due April 15th.

I honestly don’t know, but I guess I hope he is correct….it’s not like I’ll be making any huge payments in April… My lizard brain tells me that last April’s 27% YOY revenue spike was a one time event. Seeing another large gain…on top of last year’s already huge number would make my charts look messy….and that makes me sad 🙂 I guess I’ll believe it when I see it.

But that’s why I have been keeping a very close eye on tax deposits not withheld from paychecks. Last year, Jan-March increased about 15% before spiking to +40% in April. This year, through 2 months, we are up 7%….whether or not there is any correlation…we’ll have a better idea by the end of April.

Other than that…kind of a slow news day. Revenue up a bit, tax refunds down a bit. We have to wait until the 15th for a slug of $20-25B or corporate taxes….any divergence from this range would be interesting. Until then…we’ll be keeping an eye on revenues and refunds….I should have a chance to tackle the Social Security Stats for February some time next week….but it is Spring Break….you never know.