Replies to post #408 on Scribbles

[Didi]

Very impressive chart, Bryan! Many thanks.

In the face of one of the worst monthly declines in manufacturing in the NAPM report ever, the dollar and the equity markets both rebounded with surprising strength.

Partially due to MSFT news?

Bloomberg:
>>>11/01 11:38
By Danielle Sessa

``The news out of Microsoft is helping the tech sector, and thus the Nasdaq,' said Peter Cardillo, who helps oversee $600 million at Westfalia Investments Inc. He has been buying shares of Sun Microsystems Inc., Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.<<<
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http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2001/pi2001111_7499.htm

>>>NOVEMBER 1, 2001 12:16 PM

Microsoft Leads Stocks Higher
Investors are taking the dismal NAPM report well, choosing instead to focus on a possible end to the software titan's antitrust dispute

U.S. stocks held on to solid gains as investors shrugged off the latest barrage of ugly economic news, including the release of a much worse-than-expected report on manufacturing activity for October.

Investors focused on news that software giant Microsoft (MSFT ) tentatively agreed with the Justice Department to settle the historic antitrust case already won by the government. Microsoft led gains on the Dow and Nasdaq Composite, rising 4% on news that it may be close to striking a deal with the U.S. government that could settle their ongoing antitrust dispute.<<<

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Notable positives IMHO:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20986-2001Oct31.html

>>>On the other hand, there were "a lot of small positive surprises" in the report that indicated "the economy is more resilient than we thought," Glassman said. In particular, businesses shed another large slice of the unsold goods they had on hand, a development that could lead to production increases within a few months.

And in the midst of all the bad news, productivity apparently increased at a solid 3 percent annual rate as the number of hours worked fell more than output, he noted.<<<

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http://www.conference-board.org/search/dpress.cfm?pressid=4668

>>>Key findings:

...52 percent of American consumers believe the terrorist attacks are pushing the U.S. into a recession, up from 47 percent last month.
...46 percent say these events will affect their households economically, down from 51 percent last month.
...90 percent say they do not plan to postpone major purchases, such as a home, car or major appliance, about the same as last month.
...82 percent do not plan to postpone financial investments, up slightly from 80 percent last month.
...79 percent do not plan to postpone or cancel travel plans by plane, compared to 70 percent last month. <<<