US ISM Index 49.4 in May vs 45.4 in April

Biz.Yahoo/Reuters ^ | June 2, 2003

[Starwind]

US ISM Index 49.4 in May vs 45.4 in April
Monday June 2, 10:19 am ET

 TEMPE, Ariz., June 2 (Reuters) - The Institute for Supply
Management, formerly the National Association of Purchasing
Management, on Monday reported its monthly indexes of
manufacturing activity for May.
 A listing of the main ISM components follows:
.              May    April  March  Feb  Jan   Dec    Nov     
PMI            49.4   45.4   46.2   50.5  53.9  55.2  50.5
New Orders     51.9   45.2   46.2   52.3  59.7  62.9  52.4
Production     51.5   47.0   46.3   55.4  56.3  56.6  54.9
Employment     43.0   41.4   42.1   42.8  47.6  48.2  45.1
Supplier Delvs 51.3   50.0   53.8   53.3  52.6  52.6  51.8
Inventories    46.1   42.7   42.3   43.8  45.4  46.2  43.0
Prices         51.5   63.5   70.0   65.5  57.5  56.9  55.7
Backlog Ords   51.0   47.5   41.5   49.0  45.0  46.5  42.5
Export Orders  50.8   51.1   52.0   55.5  55.6  52.5  50.6
Imports        52.2   54.5   52.5   55.4  59.0  54.8  53.1
 FORECAST:
 A Reuters survey of economists on average forecast:
Purchasing Managers Index at 48.6 in May versus 45.4 in April.
 THE SURVEY: The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business is
based on data provided monthly by purchasing executives at over
350 industrial companies. It reflects changes in the current
month compared with the previous month. Responses are raw
data.

[Starwind]

From the May Manufacturing ISM Report On Business comes the following summary:

MAY 2003 ISM BUSINESS SURVEY AT A GLANCE

	Series Index	Direction May vs Apr	Rate of Change May vs Apr
PMI	49.4	Contracting	Slower
New Orders	51.9	Growing	From Contracting
Production	51.5	Growing	From Contracting
Employment	43.0	Contracting	Slower
Supplier Deliveries	51.3	Slowing	From Unchanged
Inventories	46.1	Contracting	Slower
Customers' Inventories	45.0	Too Low	Slower
Prices	51.5	Increasing	Slower
Backlog of Orders	51.0	Growing	From Contracting
New Export Orders	50.8	Growing	Slower
Imports	52.2	Growing	Slower

THE ECONOMY AT A GLANCE

Overall Economy	Growing	Faster
Manufacturing	Contracting	Slower

[Starwind]

Fyi...

[AD from SpringBay]

Looks like we're sliding into a depression. Better elect Hillary.

[upchuck]

NATIONAL EMERGENCY ALERT!!!

RATS all over the country are suffering simultaneous heart attacks. And, as usual, Tiny Tommy Dasshole is, "Deeply saddened."

Looks to me like we're on the road to recovery.

[Nachoman]

This is a mixed bag at best. Nothing to suggest a robust recovery.

[LS]

It is when you combine it with the consumer sentiment numbers that LEAPED last Fri. A rebound is a-comin'.

[Steven W.]

looks like today is the day the bears have to start eating all the crap they've been shovelin' with the S&P blasting through resistance @ 965, something Puplava's disciples said would never happen and they'd be proven outright fools if the markets accomplished. Nothing new on the doom & gloomers being fools but, since they laid down the markers, it's hilarious to see them proven such by their own standards.

[steveegg]

I'd feel a lot better if manufacturing were growing because sooner or later, even with 0% financing, consumer spending (or more correctly, borrow-and-spending) won't be enough.

[Starwind]

I'd feel a lot better if manufacturing were growing because sooner or later, even with 0% financing, consumer spending (or more correctly, borrow-and-spending) won't be enough.

Yep. Aside from increased debt & unemployment the long-term fundamentals haven't changed (well, they've certainly not improved commensurate with expectations). The momentum players have moved the market up well short-term, but I don't see where the 'E' will catch up to the 'P' anytime soon for the broad markets. Of course folks may be content to sit with ever higher P/E ratio's as happened in '99 and '00. To quote a famous market forecaster, "it's deja vu all over again".

[MonroeDNA]

[Starwind]

This is a somewhat positive report that supports your bullish sentiment. What are you whining about? Did you read it?