Manufacturing:
We are continuing to get weak Mfg data. Richmond Mfg Index came in negative today. I will say it again: this is a precursor to overall economic slowdown, as manufacturing is the most sensitive sector in slowdown. It is also the first to show any weakness.
Housing:
New home sales came in weaker than expected. They are not accelerating at a pace to show any sustained recovery. As the matter of fact, we got a mo/mo decline. Very disappointing after a good number we got earlier.
Also we got Case-Schiller. It showed some seasonal improvement in prices, but yr/yr is down still - 4.5%. So we wait longer for biggest asset of consumer's - housing - to recover. Bummer!!
CB Consumer Confidence came in a bit higher. Surprised economists and showed renewed confidence for a change. While the # was quite low by measure (2nd lowest in 8 mo), it still shows that consumers want to feel more upbeat about 2nd half, hoping for more jobs ahead. I do not want to be a wet blanket here, ain't no real jobs out there for everyday folk to speak of. U6 is going the wrong way, and pushed back above 16% in June. What a sad story...
No comments:
Post a Comment