Industrial production posted a handsome rebound in August after July’s essentially flat performance, the Federal Reserve reports. The 0.4% increase for last month is slightly better than The Capital Spectator’s average projection for August, which was published on Friday. More importantly, last month’s advance translates into a significantly stronger year-over-year gain of 2.7% through August, up sharply from the 1.4% annual pace in July. That’s an encouraging sign that industrial output isn’t sliding into a dark phase of deceleration after all, even if recent history appeared to be telling us otherwise.
Daily Archives: September 16, 2013
A Few Thoughts On Why Benchmarking Is Essential
Last week’s news that the Dow Jones Industrials Average was changing its lineup of stocks inspired some pundits to advise that keeping an eye on indexes generally for purposes of benchmarking your investment strategy isn’t worth your time. This recommendation arises from the fact that the Dow Jones Industrials and its counterparts aren’t really passive benchmarks and so any comparisons of your portfolio with these yardsticks is misguided. In fact, there are several problems with this line of thinking, and it’s worth our time to consider why.