Manufacturing output surprised the crowd with an upbeat number in today’s ISM Manufacturing report for October. This cyclical slice of the US economy expanded a slightly faster rate last month, according to ISM’s index, leaving this benchmark at 56.4–its highest level in 2-1/2 years. That’s something of a shock vis-a-vis the consensus forecast, which warned of a substantial decline for this benchmark to 55.0. That overall prediction from economists contrasts with yesterday’s econometric projection on these pages that anticipated a steady reading for today’s October’s release by way of a slight uptick to 56.3.
Daily Archives: November 1, 2013
Major Asset Classes | October 2013 | Performance Review
October has a reputation for trouble when it comes to market behavior, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at last month’s numbers. There was minimal turbulence in asset prices in October. Aside from commodities, the major asset classes posted another solid batch of gains, building on September’s bull run. The Global Market Index (GMI) posted a 2.8% increase last month, leaving it higher on the year by a solid 12.0%.