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Sunday, November 24, 2024

ISM Manufacturing Slight Miss but Barely Expansionary at 50.7

Submitted by Mark Hanna

Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.

While this is a slight miss the bigger picture here is 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.  Yesterday we had Chicago PMI that was contractionary – the worst reading since late 2009 in fact.  Today we have an expansionary U.S. ISM but just.    New orders are the only decent bright spot in a relative sense – employment stunk and prices are ‘deflating’ (good for the Fed I guess)  The market is up 7 out of 8 sessions so this could be a good excuse for some consolidation but the economic data has really slowed the past 6 weeks.

Full report here.

“The PMI™ registered 50.7 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from March’s reading of 51.3 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the fifth consecutive month, but at the lowest rate of the year. The New Orders Index increased in April by 0.9 percentage point to 52.3 percent, and the Production Index increased by 1.3 percentage points to 53.5 percent. The Employment Index registered 50.2 percent, a decrease of 4 percentage points compared to March’s reading of 54.2 percent. The Prices Index registered 50 percent, decreasing 4.5 percentage points from March, indicating that overall raw materials prices remained unchanged from last month. Comments from the panel indicate a range of strong/steady growth, to flat/declining volumes, depending upon the particular industry.”

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING …
  • “Business can be described as flat at best.” (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products)
  • “Production is still strong; several new projects to support alternative energy.” (Primary Metals)
  • “Slight uptick in business, but overall continuing slowdown in defense due to budget/sequester.” (Computer & Electronic Products)
  • “We have concerns about safety of doing business in South Korea. Our largest customer and part owner is in South Korea.” (Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components)
  • “Automotive demand remains firm.” (Fabricated Metal Products)
  • “Business continues at a steady pace.” (Machinery)
  • “General business conditions and industrial markets remain strong.” (Transportation Equipment)
  • “Seasonal pick-up underway in the office furniture industry.” (Furniture & Related Products)
  • “Market has slowed this month — weather in some parts of the country, also customers built inventory in anticipation of building increase, but the economy is still slow to pick up this spring.” (Wood Products)
  • “Overall, volume is steady or slightly declining. Q1 sales volume is lower than projected.” (Chemical Products)
MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE
APRIL 2013

Index

Series
Index
Apr
Series
Index
Mar
Percentage
Point
Change

Direction

Rate
of
Change
Trend*
(Months)
PMI™ 50.7 51.3 -0.6 Growing Slower 5
New Orders 52.3 51.4 +0.9 Growing Faster 4
Production 53.5 52.2 +1.3 Growing Faster 8
Employment 50.2 54.2 -4.0 Growing Slower 43
Supplier Deliveries 50.9 49.4 +1.5 Slowing From Faster 1
Inventories 46.5 49.5 -3.0 Contracting Faster 2
Customers’ Inventories 44.5 47.5 -3.0 Too Low Faster 17
Prices 50.0 54.5 -4.5 Unchanged From Increasing 1
Backlog of Orders 53.0 51.0 +2.0 Growing Faster 3
Exports 54.0 56.0 -2.0 Growing Slower 5
Imports 55.0 54.0 +1.0 Growing Faster 3
OVERALL ECONOMY Growing Slower 47
Manufacturing Sector Growing Slower 5

*Number of months moving in current direction.

Disclosure Notice

Any securities mentioned on this page are not held by the author in his personal portfolio. Securities mentioned may or may not be held by the author in the mutual fund he manages, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX). For a list of the aforementioned fund’s holdings at the end of the prior quarter, visit the Paladin Funds website at http://www.paladinfunds.com/holdings/blog

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