The Conference Board has released its Leading Economic Indicators. The report, much of which is known before the release, managed to come in above expectations. This report came in at +0.4% rather than the Bloomberg consensus target of +0.2% and above the same +0.2% target from Dow Jones. Today’s news is a win, considering that June was -0.4%, and considering that the market still needs more positive reports that show a recession is not looming.
More work still needs to be done. The Conference Board says that the report points to only slow growth through the end of 2012. There is a lack of demand present, although the back-to-school sales were running above expectations.
It was seven of the 10 indicators that rose in July, with building permits and jobless claims running better than expectations. The concern on the growth was from the negative new orders. The lagging indicators were up 0.4% and the coincident index rose by 0.3%.
JON C. OGG
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