The Lovely:
Stocks are getting weaker, not stronger.
The Good:
1. Leading stocks are acting well
2. The Dallas Fed manufacturing survey rose to 5.0 which beat the Street’s forecast for 4.5
3. Case for the Fed to taper in September has weakened
4. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing index, which measures manufacturing activity in region, jumped to 14, easily beating estimates for an unchanged reading.
5. Weekly jobless claims slid by 6k to 331k, beating estimates for 332k.
6. Midwest business activity rose to 53 in August, matching estimates
The Bad:
1. Dow Jones Industrial Average & S&P 500 have worst monthly decline since May 2012!
2. Turmoil in the Middle East
3. Durable Goods plunged -7.3% easily missing the Street’s estimate for a -0.4% decline.
4. The S&P Case/Shiller Index showed that home prices rose on average 0.9% in June, missing estimates for a gain of 1%. However, prices jumped 12.1% vs the same period last year.
5. Pending Home Sales slid 1.3% in July, missing estimates for a decline of -1%.
6. Consumer sentiment missed estimates and fell to 82.1 in August, from 85.1 in July.
7. Consumer spending rose 0.1% in July, missed the Street’s estimate for a gain of 0.3%