A bevy of new economic data has hit the tape ahead of Friday’s opening bell, with a little bit of everything for everyone: Durable Goods were up, although Business Investment was down. Consumer Spending was positive but weaker than we’ve seen, while Core Inflation is flat. Here are the details:
August Durable Goods Orders brought a headline of +0.2%, better than the -0.1% expected but notably lower than the +2.1% reported in July. Where these figures get interesting is in the sub-headlines: stripping out volatile Transportation costs, this number springs up to +0.5%, although ex-Defense it drops to -0.6%. That’s a 110-basis point drop on military aircraft alone. Overall non-Defense, ex-Aircraft came in at -0.2%, lower than the expected 0.0%.
This last read gives insight into Business Investment, which, as we’ve seen in other data of late has been coming up a bit short. This may have a bit to do with the wearing off of corporate tax cuts passed through Congress a year ago Christmastime; though we did see a bit of a pop in investment — and certain industries benefited (albeit temporarily) from being able to hire needed workforce with the freed-up capital — we look to be back at long-term trends. By the way, the last time Business Investment came in at a negative figure for the month was back in April of this year.
Consumer Spending for August rose +0.1% — lower than the expected +0.3% and the previous month’s downwardly revised +0.5%. Again, that we’re seeing positive reads for the consumer — who has been doing most of the heavy lifting in the economy over the past year — cannot be construed as bad news. That said, it’s the lowest read on consumer spending in six months.
August Core Inflation was unchanged on the month, following +0.2% reported in July. This is pretty well in-line with the +0.1% estimate. Year over year, the +1.4% number is exactly in-line with expectations.
Clearly, there is plenty to digest from this data. The good news is, there won’t be many distractions from things like earnings reports — although Micron (MU - Free Report) posting a disappointing outlook yesterday after the close is being digested in today’s pre-market presently — so that these points of information may help plot out the direction of the U.S. economy as a whole going into calendar Q4.
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A bevy of new economic data has hit the tape ahead of Friday’s opening bell, with a little bit of everything for everyone: Durable Goods were up, although Business Investment was down. Consumer Spending was positive but weaker than we’ve seen, while Core Inflation is flat. Here are the details:
August Durable Goods Orders brought a headline of +0.2%, better than the -0.1% expected but notably lower than the +2.1% reported in July. Where these figures get interesting is in the sub-headlines: stripping out volatile Transportation costs, this number springs up to +0.5%, although ex-Defense it drops to -0.6%. That’s a 110-basis point drop on military aircraft alone. Overall non-Defense, ex-Aircraft came in at -0.2%, lower than the expected 0.0%.
This last read gives insight into Business Investment, which, as we’ve seen in other data of late has been coming up a bit short. This may have a bit to do with the wearing off of corporate tax cuts passed through Congress a year ago Christmastime; though we did see a bit of a pop in investment — and certain industries benefited (albeit temporarily) from being able to hire needed workforce with the freed-up capital — we look to be back at long-term trends. By the way, the last time Business Investment came in at a negative figure for the month was back in April of this year.
Consumer Spending for August rose +0.1% — lower than the expected +0.3% and the previous month’s downwardly revised +0.5%. Again, that we’re seeing positive reads for the consumer — who has been doing most of the heavy lifting in the economy over the past year — cannot be construed as bad news. That said, it’s the lowest read on consumer spending in six months.
August Core Inflation was unchanged on the month, following +0.2% reported in July. This is pretty well in-line with the +0.1% estimate. Year over year, the +1.4% number is exactly in-line with expectations.
Clearly, there is plenty to digest from this data. The good news is, there won’t be many distractions from things like earnings reports — although Micron (MU - Free Report) posting a disappointing outlook yesterday after the close is being digested in today’s pre-market presently — so that these points of information may help plot out the direction of the U.S. economy as a whole going into calendar Q4.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
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