Chicago PMI slumps to 3.5-year low in April

Market Watch ^ | 4/30/2013 | Steve Goldstein

[MulberryDraw]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Chicago PMI slumped to a three-and-a-half year low of 49.0 in April, down from 52.4 in March and at a reading indicating contraction. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 52.5 reading. Order backlogs were particularly weak, falling to 40.6 from 45.0.

[MulberryDraw]

Unexpected contraction.

[KeyLargo]

The state’s financial well-being has 76 percent of local investors “very concerned,” while only 46 percent feel that way about the prospects for the U.S. economy, according to a survey by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. A bit more than half (52 percent) said the state’s pension crisis was their top concern, and 58 percent foresee that the Illinois economy will get worse by year-end.

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130422/NEWS02/130419726/rich-chicagoans-fret-about-illinois-economy-survey#ixzz2RxJHfGt2
Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters

[KeyLargo]

Chicago has divested itself from gun manufactures in all pension funds.

Teacher pension fund divests from gun makers
By Greg Hinz January 22, 2013
One of the city’s pension funds has quietly voted to give Mayor Rahm Emanuel what he wanted, moving to divest itself of any interest in assault weapon manufacturers. But only a miniscule $260,000 in stock was involved. And the step did not apply to ownership in retailers such as Wal-Mart, which arguably would be far more meaningful. The action came last week when, in a previously...

And well guess what?

Gun company stocks have gone up in the wake of the Boston manhunt. Rahm sure is showing them gun makers!

The increased demand for guns, especially in the wake of the Boston explosions, may also help private equity firm Cerberus. The buyout shop has been trying to sell portfolio company the Freedom Group, which made the rifle used in the Connecticut shooting. After that tragedy, two large pension funds that invest in Cerberus urged the firm to sell Freedom Group, because of the bad publicity. The irony is that that shooting, and now the Boston manhunt, has increased the demand for guns and made the Freedom Group potentially more valuable.

http://qz.com/76498/shares-of-gun-makers-others-in-weapons-industry-go-up-in-wake-of-boston-manhunt/

[Wyatt's Torch]

Another in a string over negative reports over the last three weeks indicating that we are in our fourth annual “Spring Swoon.”

[headstamp 2]

Should be good for another 400 points on the Dow. LOL

[Wyatt's Torch]

Analysis from IHS GLobal Insight:

NAPM-Chicago Business Survey

The Chicago purchasing managers’ index noticeably slipped under 50 for the first time since September 2009, at 49.0. Production and orders were more positive, in the 50–53 range. Backlogs and inventories both plunged.

- The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 49.0; it had been 49.991 last December.

- The production and orders scores cooled but remained more positive than the composite, at 49.9 and 53.2, respectively.

- Backlogs and inventories both fell to 40.6. Employment faded to 48.7 and supplier deliveries cooled to 47.9.

- Prices paid cooled to 51.0 for its tamest since the Great Recession.

30 April: The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Business Barometer skidded noticeably under 50 for the first time since September 2009, to 49.0 in April. The index had kissed negative territory last December, at 49.991 (essentially 50). The production and orders readings were a shade more positive at 49.9 and 53.2, respectively. Backlogs and inventories deteriorated badly, however, with each concept sporting matching 40.6 readings.

While the slightly better tone to orders and production than the composite takes some of the sting from a full index point shortfall from neutrality, the abysmal scores for backlogs and inventories are unabashed negatives, as they undercut prospects for the coming months.

On the plus side for the business environment, the prices-paid score cooled from 61.0 to 51.0, for its coolest level since the Great Recession. Most businesses would trade better sales and backlog prospects for milder price gains in this inflation environment, however. The Chicago PMI does not augur well for the national ISM-manufacturing score due out on 1 May. The somewhat stronger tone in the Markit PMI suggests that the manufacturing sector may avoid falling into negative ground during April by the skin of its teeth. At minimum, the early-2013 bounce upward in manufacturing had no staying power and slower growth appears to be in the cards—if any growth from late in the first quarter transpires.