Manipulated Markets, Not Free Markets

Guess which one of these headlines has affected stock prices today. The Dow is currently up over 400 points. How can stocks be so bullish when today's economic data is so bearish? Central bankers, that's how! Today's markets are manipulated. They are no longer free markets!

Factory Orders Drop 1.5%

from Zero Hedge:
That March factory orders declined 1.5% was not very surprising: the market was expecting a decline of 1.6%. However, this is not good news as the prior February increase of 1.3% was revised lower to 1.1%, netting out as a negative two month change. Where this number was troubling is that this 2.6% swing brought the index to its biggest decline since March 2009 when the pumping of trillions started.

Universal Disapointment

Durable goods ex-transportation and factory orders data both disappointed the market this morning. Stocks, after a brief spike on the durable goods including transportation, have since sunk to near the lows of the day.

Factory Orders Resume Slide

from Fox Business:

New orders received by U.S. factories fell by 0.5% in August, resuming a downtrend as demand for transportation equipment fell sharply, according to a Commerce Department report on Monday.

Total orders fell to a seasonally adjusted $408.9 billion after an upwardly revised 0.5% increase in July and a 0.6% fall in June. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast a decline of 0.4% in August.

The August decline in factory orders was due mainly to a 10.2% decline in the volatile transportation equipment segment, in which motor vehicle-related orders were off 3.6% and non-defense aircraft down 40.2%. Excluding the transport segment, factory orders rose 0.9%.

Orders for machinery rose 5.2% in August, while orders for computers and electronic products rose 3.7%.