Waiting on Obama as Dire Data Flow Continues

Economic Report Rundown

A slew of economic reports released Thursday may help investors get a better view of economic conditions. The market is now hanging on the upcoming speech by President Obama, in which he is expected to present a new plan to help the economy and to create jobs.

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Waiting on Obama as Dire Data Flow Continues

ISM Manufacturing Report

The Institute for Supply Management reported on the nation’s manufacturing. The ISM Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 50.6% in August, down from 50.9% in July. The deterioration was foreseen by economists, who had forecast a consensus measurement of 48.5%. The good news is that the result for August stuck above 50%, the threshold for economic expansion. The market was enthused by the news this morning, with the number also above economists’ pessimistic views.

Productivity & Costs

Second quarter productivity and costs were reported today. Productivity was revised lower to -0.7%, from the initially reported decline of 0.3%. It looks as though Business Productivity was the culprit, as manufacturing productivity improved from the first report. Unit Labor Costs were revised higher to 3.3%, from the initially reported 2.2%.

Construction Spending

Construction Spending fell 1.3% in July, sharply off the economists’ consensus view for a 0.1% increase. However, the decline was greatly affected by a revision to July’s result, raising the basis for this month higher.

Jobless Claims

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims improved by 12K this week, moving to 409K, versus the 421K reported the week before. However, sticking above 400K still gives the market no reason to celebrate. In fact, the four-week moving average for claims increased by 1,750, to 408,500.

Consumer Comfort Index

Bloomberg’s measure of consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in two years. The Comfort Index fell to -49.1 in the week ending August 27, down from the meager -47 reading from the week before. The group of lowest income earning Americans showed extreme concern about the economy.

Article should interest economy watchers and investors in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), TD Bank (NYSE: TD), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), State Street (NYSE: STT), Janus (NYSE: JNS), T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), AT&T (NYSE: T), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM).

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