Consumer Confidence Drops to 5-Month Low

After falling precipitously in May, Consumer Confidence fell even further this month, to a 5-month low. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined to 62.0 in June, against economists’ expectations for a monthly reading of 63.5 based on Bloomberg’s survey. The index marked even lower ground than May’s dive to 64.4, revised down from 64.9 at its initial reporting. The reasons should be clear, as economic data points have trended poorly and European issues have raised question about impact to our economy, the financial system and the value of stocks. This strikes Americans where it hurts, their retirement savings accounts. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) was essentially unchanged on the news, while the more closely tied Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLY) was surprisingly higher by more than a half point Tuesday morning. Though the SPDR S&P Retail (NYSE: XRT) was moving lower, as would be expected.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Consumer Confidence

Lower confidence has not yet reflected perfectly through to actual consumer spending, though recent retail trade data has been softer. The reason is probably better understood via study of the component measures of the confidence tally. The consumer view of the present situation actually increased in June while expectations for the future declined. The Present Situation Index gained to 46.6 in June, up from 44.9 last month. The Expectations Index, which varies more wildly driven by fear and greed, dropped to 72.3 this month, from 77.3 in May. The absolute value of the index as compared to the Present Situation measure says something about the optimism of Americans with regard to money making hope, while also reflecting their close following of global financial market news.

Yet, it’s not just intangibles that are affecting the views of those surveyed. The latest employment data has been less than enthusing; in fact, most domestic economic data points seem to me to be trending poorly. The question is: will consumers pull back their spending in a more significant manner? Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, had something to say about that today:

"Consumer Confidence declined in June, the fourth consecutive moderate decline. Consumers were somewhat more positive about current conditions, but slightly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. Income expectations, which had improved last month, declined in June. If this trend continues, spending may be restrained in the short-term. The improvement in the Present Situation Index, coupled with a moderate softening in consumer expectations, suggests there will be little change in the pace of economic activity in the near-term."

If you look at the details of the monthly data, the absolute values have continued to reflect a terribly poor situation, while the changes month-to-month are highlighted by the popular press as either great or disastrous news.

• 14.9% of consumers say business conditions are good
• 35.1% say business conditions are bad
• 41.5% say jobs are hard to get
• 7.8% say jobs are plentiful
• 15.5% expect business conditions to improve over the coming six months
• 16.2% expect business conditions to worsen
• 14.1% see more jobs ahead
• 20.6% see fewer jobs
• 14.8% expect their income to increase

The component survey results show a clearly pessimistic feeling about the current situation, which reflects poorly for the economy and consumer spending, in that it could be much better. Certain retailers have benefited and should continue to benefit from such an environment, including especially Dollar Tree (Nasdaq: DLTR), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), Costco (Nasdaq: COST) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). As far as stock recommendations go, I favor DLTR over the rest for reasons discussed within this report. Keep receiving articles like these by following me at the blog and via email. Thank you.

Article interests investors in: S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), The Limited (NYSE: LTD), Chicos (NYSE: CHS), Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN), The Gap (NYSE: GPS), Macy’s (NYSE: M), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), TJX Company (NYSE: TJX), Kohls (NYSE: KSS), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Target (NYSE: TGT), Wet Seal (Nasdaq: WTSLA), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Saks (NYSE: SAK), Tiffany (NYSE: TIF), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), Builders Firstsource (Nasdaq: BLDR), Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO), Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG), Tempur-Pedic International (NYSE: TPX), Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), Select Comfort (Nasdaq: SCSS), Sleepy’s (NYSE: ZZ), Furniture Brands (NYSE: FBN), Natuzzi (NYSE: NTZ), Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD), Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS), Bon-Ton (Nasdaq: BONT), Cost Plus (Nasdaq: CPWM), Baker’s Footwear (Nasdaq: BKRS.OB), Bebe Stores (Nasdaq: BEBE), The Buckle (NYSE: BKE), Cache (Nasdaq: CACH), Casual Male (Nasdaq: CMRG), Cato (Nasdaq: CATO), Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK), Citi Trends (Nasdaq: CTRN), Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), Destination Maternity (Nasdaq: DEST), Dress Barn (Nasdaq: DBRN), DSW (NYSE: DSW), Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL), Footlocker (NYSE: FL), Gymboree (Nasdaq: GYMB), Guess (NYSE: GES), J. Crew (NYSE: JCG), Jones New York (NYSE: JNY), Jos. A Banks (Nasdaq: JOSB), New York & Co. (NYSE: NWY), Men’s Wearhouse (NYSE: MW), Syms (Nasdaq: SYMS), The Children’s Place (Nasdaq: PLCE).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Consumers Signaling Recession

As retailers report earnings, some are doing well like TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), while others are doing poorly, like J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Dollar Tree (Nasdaq: DLTR). Thus, it’s somewhat difficult to discern the shape of consumer spending from the mass of corporate reports. The U.S. economy is in better shape than it was a few years ago, and an improved consumer mood has tracked fading panic over the years. Yet, one tracker of the shopper mood is saying consumers are increasingly uncomfortable again, and all of a sudden. In fact, it could be signaling recession.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Consumers Are Uncomfortable

As the European economy flirts with recession, having just reported flat GDP activity in Q1 after a contraction in Q4 2011, the decisions of Greek voters may be about to unravel the region. Thursday, the ramifications of that highly possible disaster were striking Spanish banks, which faced ratings downgrade by Moody’s (NYSE: MCO). But value destruction probably will not be limited to Europe, especially considering that 20% of American exports sell into the region. We noted an interesting expansion of the trade deficit with Europe earlier this month. We also noted signs of European infection of U.S. business sectors including manufacturing. The region seems to be impacting the global market, with Chinese data softening as well. Greek election chaos and European concerns have now reached the front page of the newspaper, and so American consumers are certainly aware and likely worried about it all.

Thus, it makes sense that the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index has dramatically retraced ground from its April 15 high point of minus 31.4. In just a short period of a month’s time, it has consistently deteriorated, reaching negative 43.6 in the just reported week ending May 13. Bloomberg and Langer Research Associates, which compiles the index, said the current mark reflects territory consistent with recessionary periods. So, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, which is a more regular measure than the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index and the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, may in fact be offering an early signal of recession.

The most recent reading of the Consumer Confidence Index was in April, measuring a period through April 12, and so wouldn’t reflect what we are seeing in the Consumer Comfort measure until it is reported again later in May. The Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, reported just last week, marked a four-year high in mid-May. Yet, this latest Consumer Comfort reading dropped to near a four-month low. It’s hard to say why the difference exists between the two indexes without an intimate understanding of the specifics of, and perhaps proprietary information about, the two metrics.

Consumer discretionary shares performed poorly Thursday on the news, with the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLY) down 2.6%. Retailer shares were also lower, with the SPDR S&P Retail (NYSE: XRT) down more than 3.5%. The shares of some retail store operators have taken a beating this week, including J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), which missed the Street’s EPS view badly. We recommended investors sell the shares of JCP on a company specific misstep though, not a broad reaching driver. JCP shares were down again Thursday, following a 20% slide Wednesday. Yet, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was up 4.2% on a strong EPS result, and TJX (NYSE: TJX) gained strongly earlier in the week on its report.

Company specific drivers serve to cloud the message perhaps presciently offered by the Consumer Comfort Index. However, the index was lower than its current point back in the fall of 2011, which was not a recessionary period. It’s my view that the same concern that struck at the hearts of consumers then is bothering them again today, and it is the unsettled state of global affairs. Of course, stubborn unemployment continues to weigh heavily and slowing domestic economic growth has raised new concerns. Still, the old trend of rising fuel prices has since turned, easing some of the pressure that existed then from consumers.

In my view, this Consumer Comfort Index is but one of many subtle signs of tough times coming. When they arrive, it may be late to hedge given the market’s tendency to lead. So consider yourself warned.

Article interests investors in: S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), The Limited (NYSE: LTD), Chicos (NYSE: CHS), Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN), The Gap (NYSE: GPS), Macy’s (NYSE: M), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), TJX Company (NYSE: TJX), Kohls (NYSE: KSS), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Target (NYSE: TGT), Wet Seal (Nasdaq: WTSLA), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Saks (NYSE: SAK), Tiffany (NYSE: TIF), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), Builders Firstsource (Nasdaq: BLDR), Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO), Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG), Tempur-Pedic International (NYSE: TPX), Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), Select Comfort (Nasdaq: SCSS), Sleepy’s (NYSE: ZZ), Furniture Brands (NYSE: FBN), Natuzzi (NYSE: NTZ), Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD), Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS), Bon-Ton (Nasdaq: BONT), Cost Plus (Nasdaq: CPWM), Baker’s Footwear (Nasdaq: BKRS.OB), Bebe Stores (Nasdaq: BEBE), The Buckle (NYSE: BKE), Cache (Nasdaq: CACH), Casual Male (Nasdaq: CMRG), Cato (Nasdaq: CATO), Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK), Citi Trends (Nasdaq: CTRN), Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), Destination Maternity (Nasdaq: DEST), Dress Barn (Nasdaq: DBRN), DSW (NYSE: DSW), Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL), Footlocker (NYSE: FL), Gymboree (Nasdaq: GYMB), Guess (NYSE: GES), J. Crew (NYSE: JCG), Jones New York (NYSE: JNY), Jos. A Banks (Nasdaq: JOSB), New York & Co. (NYSE: NWY), Men’s Wearhouse (NYSE: MW), Syms (Nasdaq: SYMS), The Children’s Place (Nasdaq: PLCE).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

European Disease Infecting U.S. Manufacturing

The latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey, produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, indicates a pickup in May manufacturing activity on the surface. Closer inspection always adds color, and in this case, we believe reflects growing concern about the outlook. It also shows a bifurcation developing within the sector, as mixed messages are delivered about the trend of business. We believe the report intimates infection from European markets reaching relative U.S. exporters. Given the data we’ve reported on around the industrial sector and manufacturing and international trade, and based on what we see developing globally, we view the headline improvement as just a blip in a trending dip.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers include the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS).

Europe Infecting U.S.

The market celebrated Tuesday morning’s early release of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey because of the headline index increase. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) rose to start the day, before other considerations (read Greece) weighed. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI) traded choppy, though higher. Major industrial names including General Electric (NYSE: GE), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), UPS (NYSE: UPS) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) were each convincingly in the green. The NY Fed’s measure of area business showed its General Business Conditions Index gained to a mark of 17.09, up from 6.56 in April. Bloomberg’s survey of economists pegged the increase at a lesser level of 10.0 based on past performance and other indicators that reflected an uncertain direction.

The sub-index measuring new orders, which is a tangible indicator of how the business environment might be developing, inched higher to 8.3, from 6.5 in April. Shipments, however, were significantly higher, with the component measure rising to 24.1, from 6.4. Price increase has been contributing to gains here and likely continued to do so in May. That said, the indexes measuring both prices paid and received showed some moderation of the increases.

While the data showed overall gain, closer inspection shed light on a sort of bifurcated manufacturing environment. Something is developing, as the gain hid the fact that while many businesses reported improved activity, there was a similar increase in the number of manufacturers reporting less business activity. Even as 40.5% of those surveyed reported better business conditions, a gain over April’s 27.9%, 23.4% reported deteriorated business, versus 21.3% in April. Worse yet, 31.6% of those surveyed saw decreased new ordering activity, versus the 22.7% that said the same in April. That contrasted with the May gain in those who saw improved new ordering, where 39.9% saw improvement versus the 29.2% that said so in April.

The weird changes were fueled by decreasing numbers of managers reporting no change. The divergence of data may be reflective of specific markets served by manufacturers. Perhaps those serving Europe to a greater extent are now seeing decreased business. The latest International Trade Report reflected a wider trade deficit between the U.S. and Europe, which we intimated could be due to decreased European demand for U.S. goods and services. Of course, we now know that Spain is in recession as Greece falls into depression. Trouble seems to be spreading as an ill-timed austerity movement is implemented too aggressively across the euro region.

The NY Fed’s report also showed a perception among manufacturing managers that business conditions might deteriorate over the next six months. The forward looking indicators for General Business Conditions, New Orders, Shipments and Employment all decreased in value. Also, expectations for capital expenditures and technology spending declined. This all portends trouble, as the expert ear on the rail is feeling a bad vibe coming. Ironically, given the expected business slowdown, price increases are seen by manufacturing managers. I see inflation coming too, but I believe it will be selective and dynamic, and will follow nearer term deflation in industrial commodity prices. As a result, I’m not a fan of names like BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) over the short-term, though I believe scarcity, global demand and a breakdown of global trade, combined with fiat currency devaluation, will eventually drive the price of all materials and goods much higher.

This article should interest investors in Boeing (NYSE: BA), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN), Digital Globe (NYSE: DGI), GenCorp (NYSE: GY), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Goodrich (NYSE: GR), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL), EMBRAER (NYSE: ERJ), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR), BE Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV), TransDigm (NYSE: TDG), Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE: SPR), CAE (NYSE: CAE), Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), Hexcel (NYSE: HXL), Triumph Group (NYSE: TGI), Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL), Moog (NYSE: MOG-A), Heico (NYSE: HEI), Teledyne (NYSE: TDY), Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW), Cavco (Nasdaq: CVCO), Skyline (NYSE: SKY), Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK), Interface (Nasdaq: IFSIA), Albany International (NYSE: AIN), Unifi (NYSE: UFI), Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), Tyco International (NYSE: TYC), Cummins (NYSE: CMI), Kubota (NYSE: KUB), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR), Dover (NYSE: DOV), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), Flowserve (NYSE: FLS), Pall (NYSE: PLL), Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC), SPX (NYSE: SPW), Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI), IDEX (NYSE: IEX), Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN), Graco (NYSE: GGG), Actuant (NYSE: ATU), Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD), ABB (NYSE: ABB), Eaton (NYSE: ETN), Nidec (NYSE: NJ), Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), Ametek (NYSE: AME), Regal Beloit (NYSE: RBC), Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TMB), Woodward Governor (Nasdaq: WGOV), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Deere (NYSE: DE), CNH (NYSE: CNH), Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), Bucyrus (Nasdaq: BUCY), Agco (Nasdaq: AGCO), Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP), Pentair (NYSE: PNR), Waste Management (NYSE: WM), Republic Services (NYSE: RSG), Fastenal (Nasdaq: FAST), Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC), MDU Resources (NYSE: MDU), Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Valspar (NYSE: VAL), Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP), United States Steel (NYSE: X), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), CRH (NYSE: CRH), CEMEX (NYSE: CX), Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), Fluor (NYSE: FLR), McDermott International (NYSE: MDR), Foster Wheeler (Nasdaq: FWLT), Empresas ICA (NYSE: ICA), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), Timken (NYSE: TKR), Kennametal (NYSE: KMT), Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK), Masco (NYSE: MAS), Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI), EMCOR (NYSE: EME), Snap-on (NYSE: SNA), Toro (NYSE: TTC), GM (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Interpreting the International Trade Report

The International Trade Report for the month of March showed an enthusing trade deficit expansion of $6.4 billion, as it widened to $51.8 billion. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast expansion to a lesser $49.5 billion at the consensus. We think the news was an important driver for stocks Thursday, killing a six day slide, but just barely. Through this report, we attempted to determine whether the trade data was truly the ace it seemed to be. In our study and after accounting for several important catalysts, we found it to be less enthusing than the market’s initial reaction might imply. This may be why stocks retraced ground Thursday into the close.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers include the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLI), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Boeing (NYSE: BA), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM).

International Trade Report

The good news implied in the expansion of the trade deficit may be counterintuitive, but I believe it continues to apply today. It is two-fold. When America’s economy was most healthy over the last decade, the trade deficit was wide and expanding. Of course, America’s leaders have engaged China over the last few decades for two reasons. The first was for American companies to find cost savings in manufacturing overseas. This widened profit margins for American companies while offering our consumers lower prices for goods. The impact to our labor markets and the tendency for China to bend the rules of fair trade has cost us though.

The second hope was for American companies to find opportunity to participate in the development of the bursting populations of the Far East. Clearly, the hope is that trade will work to our benefit over the long run as well as it has up until now, depending on China’s willingness to play fairly. If it all goes according to plan, Chinese demand would support the growth of American companies and eventually drive a trade surplus with the nation. While I have my doubts about that, today, the widening trade gap still reflects a healthy situation in my view. Over the long run, I anticipate China will simply steal American intellectual property and know-how and advance its own home grown versions of our companies and products, so that the projected benefits will prove overstated. I’ll talk more about the trouble I see with China in a future article.

Another positive sign of the trade data (on the surface) was that the report showed that both imports and exports increased on a monthly basis. It’s good news, reflecting a growing global economy in March, but there’s a fly in the ointment we discuss further along here. On a year-over-year basis, the deficit expanded by $5.8 billion, with exports up 7.3% or $12.8 billion, and imports higher by 8.4% or $18.5 billion.

Exports increased 2.9% in March, or by $5.3 billion. This seems like fabulous news given 20% of American exports are sold into Europe, or have been historically. Unfortunately, closer inspection shows the goods deficit with Europe expanded to $9.8 billion in March, from $5.9 billion in February. This is probably due to a decline in exports sold into the struggling region, but might also be partly driven by increased imports into America. Of course, dynamic currency markets are playing a role as well.

Given the importance of China, the increase of the trade deficit to $21.7 billion in March, from $19.4 billion in February, seems enthusing. It’s probably being driven by more demand for Chinese made goods here at home. It may also be driven by lower exports into China, but given the latest expansions of General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) in China, that seems less likely. Also, despite the recently slowing of economic growth in the important developing nation, recent data from Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) and others continues to show increasing demand for American goods and services. And China has taken steps to spur growth, including opening up to more foreign investment, which not coincidentally, has sparked a rally in many of China’s small and microcap names.

The market also found it enthusing that American imports increased by 5.2%, or $11.7 billion. With the microscope on the globally tied American economy and on consumer spending under today’s unique unemployment situation, we found reassurance in the growth of imports. Growth was attributed to capital goods, consumer goods, industrial supplies and materials, and automotive vehicles, parts and engines. We have to agree that those would be the best places to find increased activity.

That aforementioned fly in the ointment could be found in this report and through the study of a second report. The trade deficit with OPEC expanded by $2.7 billion to reach $9.1 billion. This was obviously being driven by price increase in petroleum and imported distillates. In fact, higher fuel prices skewed the growth of both factors in international trade. Import and export prices were reported the same day as the international trade data, as always, but for April. If we want to compare apples to apples, we have to dig up the March data. Unfortunately, it shows that March saw steep increases in both import and export prices. Therefore, fuel prices contributed to both sides of the trade scale, but especially to import growth, which we hoped to attribute American economic demand to. I suspect that this realization helped to quell some of the day’s enthusiasm Thursday, and the realization that the jobless claims data was not as exciting as the headlines portrayed.

The shares of the most likely benefactors of the data were mixed to modestly higher, before fading into the close Thursday. Much of the export growth was attributed to industrial goods and supplies, but the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLI) ended only fractionally higher. Shares of major industrials like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Boeing (NYSE: BA) (see my report) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) all closed in the red, as they also contended with soft Chinese trade data published the same day.

As time passes, the suspect positives from this report will lose their impact, and the market will continue to look forward to new data points for insight into what is developing in trade. My outlook is modestly negative, with a view for the cliff’s edge that we should reach soon enough, given the disruption driven by Europe and potentially Iran this year.

This article should interest investors in Boeing (NYSE: BA), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN), Digital Globe (NYSE: DGI), GenCorp (NYSE: GY), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Goodrich (NYSE: GR), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL), EMBRAER (NYSE: ERJ), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR), BE Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV), TransDigm (NYSE: TDG), Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE: SPR), CAE (NYSE: CAE), Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK), Hexcel (NYSE: HXL), Triumph Group (NYSE: TGI), Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL), Moog (NYSE: MOG-A), Heico (NYSE: HEI), Teledyne (NYSE: TDY), Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW), Cavco (Nasdaq: CVCO), Skyline (NYSE: SKY), Nobility Homes (Nasdaq: NOBH), Palm Harbor Homes (Nasdaq: PHHM), Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK), Interface (Nasdaq: IFSIA), Albany International (NYSE: AIN), Unifi (NYSE: UFI), Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), Tyco International (NYSE: TYC), Cummins (NYSE: CMI), Kubota (NYSE: KUB), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR), Dover (NYSE: DOV), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), Flowserve (NYSE: FLS), Pall (NYSE: PLL), Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC), SPX (NYSE: SPW), Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI), IDEX (NYSE: IEX), Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN), Graco (NYSE: GGG), Actuant (NYSE: ATU), Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD), ABB (NYSE: ABB), Eaton (NYSE: ETN), Nidec (NYSE: NJ), Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), Ametek (NYSE: AME), Regal Beloit (NYSE: RBC), Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TMB), Woodward Governor (Nasdaq: WGOV), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Deere (NYSE: DE), CNH (NYSE: CNH), Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG), Bucyrus (Nasdaq: BUCY), Agco (Nasdaq: AGCO), Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP), Pentair (NYSE: PNR), Waste Management (NYSE: WM), Republic Services (NYSE: RSG), Fastenal (Nasdaq: FAST), Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC), MDU Resources (NYSE: MDU), Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Valspar (NYSE: VAL), Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP), United States Steel (NYSE: X), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), CRH (NYSE: CRH), CEMEX (NYSE: CX), Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), Fluor (NYSE: FLR), McDermott International (NYSE: MDR), Foster Wheeler (Nasdaq: FWLT), Empresas ICA (NYSE: ICA), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), Timken (NYSE: TKR), Kennametal (NYSE: KMT), Leucadia National (NYSE: LUK), Masco (NYSE: MAS), Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI), EMCOR (NYSE: EME), Snap-on (NYSE: SNA), Toro (NYSE: TTC), GM (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F).

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