The Gathering Tweetstorm "U.S. factory activity unexpectedly contracted in August for the first time in three years as shrinking orders, production and hiring pushed a widely followed measure of manufacturing to its lowest level since January 2016. The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers index fell to 49.1 in August, weaker than all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists, data released Tuesday showed. Figures below 50 signal the manufacturing economy is generally contracting. The group’s gauge of new orders dropped to a more than seven-year low, while the production index shrank to the weakest level since the end of 2015. Faltering manufacturing could complicate President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign as recent data undermines one of his signature promises for a strong economy. Stocks extended declines and the yield on 10-year Treasuries fell sharply Tuesday after the data was released. The dollar weakened." Bloomberg, U.S. Manufacturing Contracts for First Time in Three Years “Because silver and gold have their value from the matter itself, they have first this privilege, that the value of them cannot be altered by the power of one, nor of a few commonwealths, as being a common measure of the commodities of all places. But base money may easily be enhanced or abased.” Thomas Hobbes
