These are stressful times for investors wondering what the economy will bring next year. The stress level jumped another notch for those who read this morning’s news on October’s factory orders.
New orders for manufactured goods dropped by 4.7% in October, the Commerce Department reported today. Not only does that look bad after September’s 1.7% gain, it looks downright awful based on the fact that one has to go back to 2000 to find a bigger monthly descent in the series.
To say that something’s amiss in factory orders is to reiterate a theme that’s been bubbling for some time in the economic data. To review: the economy’s slowing. How much it’s slowing is the question, although when it comes to October’s new orders for manufactured goods, there’s not a lot of room for debate.
Deciding if October will carry over into November, December and beyond is the great question that increasingly consumes investors. Of course, to judge by equity trading of late, Mr. Market looks less than stressed. Let’s rephrase that: some investors are consumed with worry, but it may take a while to find them on Wall Street these days.