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DJ DJ-BTM Business Barometer -2: Smoothed Index Down 0.1% . NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The Dow Jones-Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi weekly business barometer decreased by 0.3% in the week ended Sept. 6, continuing a saw-tooth pattern seen over the last few weeks. A week earlier, the barometer posted a 0.9% increase, which followed a 0.6% decrease the week before that. A statistically smoothed version of the index declined by 0.1% in the latest week and is up only 0.1 percentage point from its level in the week ended June 28. "It is not clear whether the early September weakness was associated with...

The Conference Board's U.S. Leading Index Points to a Better Economy This Fall Thursday August 21, 10:00 am ET NEW YORK, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board announced today that the U.S. Leading Economic Index increased 0.4 percent, the Coincident Index increased 0.1 percent, and the Lagging Index increased 0.1 percent in July. The Coincident Index continued to rise very modestly in July. But the Leading Economic Index rose for the fourth straight month, after a weak first quarter of the year. The chief concern last spring was a lack of business confidence and investment. This was related to...