Aside from the fact that the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index remained below 50% for the third straight month, indicating that the U.S. factory sector is in trouble, the ratio of the ISM new orders sub-index to the headline index has slid towards levels that have often coincided with broad economic downturns. Admittedly, there have been a few false signals over the past three decades, but given other reports we've seen lately, today's data lends further weight to the notion that the U.S. economy is heading south.
Michael J. Panzner
