Monthly data on orders for capital goods were soft, but not very far off trend. So, no need to change a forecast here, but no cause for celebration either.
Computer equipment still looks OK, but traditional manufacturing equipment had weak orders last month.
Some service sector folks question my continued study of traditional manufacturing sectors such as capital goods. This sector may be less important than it once was, but it is still very volatile. There’s not much sense in studying a steady sector–economic fluctuations emerge from the volatile sectors of the economy, not the steady ones.
Business Implication: There might be some deals out there for buyers of capital goods, thanks to a couple of soft months of orders.