Square this up for me please/Key earnings comments/Tokyo inflation cools

If someone can square up for me what the Beige Book seen last week said about the US economy ("A majority of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period") and yesterday's GDP print, I'm all ears. 

By the way, this is what the Beige Book said in its previous release in November: "On balance, economic activity slowed since the previous report, with four Districts reporting modest growth, two indicating conditions were flat to slightly down, and six noting slight declines in activity." Is the reconciliation due to all the massive government spending and tax incentives for all the green initiatives and chip factory building? 

Here are some notable comments from earnings calls on the macro:

From Sherwin Williams,

"On the architectural side, US new residential sentiment has improved. Single family starts have been up y/o/y for 6 consecutive months. Mortgage rates are expected to begin moderating but will remain well above historic levels. In residential repaint, existing home sales drove a portion of our sales and have declined y/o/y for 28 straight months. The trajectory of recovery is not clear here and the LIRA (Leading Indicator of Remolding Activity) index is forecasting negative remodeling spend in 2024."

"In new commercial, starts slowed considerably in 2023, which we expect will impact completions starting midway through 2024. Commercial lending standards have also tightened, and the Architecture Billings Index has been negative for 5 consecutive months."

"On the DIY side, we'll remain in share gain mode as we do not currently see a macro economic catalyst driving meaningful improvement in consumer demand. "

"On the industrial side, the PMI numbers for manufacturing in the US, Europe, and Brazil have largely been negative for multiple months, with China being slightly better recently. We expect automotive refinish to be our most resilient business in this environment, but we expect to see ongoing benefits from recent share gains."

"Industrial Wood is likely to benefit from recovery in new residential, given the furniture, flooring and cabinetry end markets it serves."

On the pricing and cost front, it is really a mixed situation, "our outlook assumes our raw material costs will be down by a low single digit percentage in 2024 compared to 2023...While raw materials will likely be a benefit for us, other costs including wages, healthcare, energy and transportation are expected to be up in the mid to high single digit range in 2024."

As a result and for those who think the drop in inflation (outside of rents which is an easy call here) is an easy trip, "Paint Stores Group is implementing a 5% price increase effective February 1. The Performance Coatings and the Consumer Brands Group are also likely to have some targeted pricing activity in 2024, though at a more modest level than Paint Stores."