The ISM Survey Index Increased From 52.7% to 54.5% in the Past Month… This is the eighth straight month of gains in the service industries.
What it means— Service industries are the thing, and they continue to rise. New orders are strong, and despite problems of debt and interest rates, consumers keep on buying. And college students will continue to have to pay up as their loans are coming due, albeit grudgingly, because they may have to cut back on goods and services they’ve gotten used to having. News of the ISM data caused stocks to drop on the Dow and a 3-bp upturn in 10-year Treasury rates to 4.29%. Fears of additional rate hikes seem to have nudged forward the downward slide.
Initial Jobless Claims Fell This Week to 216,000, the Lowest Level Since February… Also, for the week ending August 26, the number of people already collecting benefits fell to 229,500, the lowest level since July.
What it means— It’s the same old song, second verse. Continuing jobless benefits now sit at 1.68 million, a low level. Until initial and continuing job claims both pop up, there’s no reason for alarm. Continuing unemployment claims need to rise significantly before another recession is likely.
Chinese Cities Ease Property Requirements, Making Hong Kong Stocks Jump… Per the Wall Street Journal, Chinese media reported Beijing could prop up industry, causing real estate stocks to rise. Sunac increased by 68%, Evergrande by 27%, and Shimao by 25%, even as the Hang Seng fell by 0.8%.
What it means— On Wednesday, Chinese state-owned newspaper The Securities Times said that current real estate rules restricting house and property loans were out of date, implying that the government could ease loan restrictions. As Chinese real estate plummets, flexibility in these rules would be a gift to property developers. The whole thing should be a reminder of the extend-and-pretend property developers in the Great Financial Crisis and the Japanification of commercial real estate.
Man Speeding Away From Canadian Police in Stolen Car Is Caught After Hitting Bear Carcass… A suspect in a Mazda stolen from a business attempted to evade Mounties in Rayleigh, Canada, but instead hit a bear carcass. While the hit didn’t stop the Mazda right away, the car was badly damaged. Mounties later found the car, engulfed in flames, on the side of the road and picked up the suspected thief nearby.
Data supplied by HS Dent Research
“When the facts change, I change my mind.
What do you do?” ~ John Maynard Keynes
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Relative strength measures the price performance of a stock against a market average, a selected universe of stocks or a single alternative holding. Relative strength improves if it rises faster in an uptrend, or falls less in a downtrend. It is easily applied to individual positions in your portfolio and to sectors and asset classes.
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