Damning with faint praise comes to mind….
The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, remained positive for the second consecutive month, but it decreased from 8.7 in October to 3.6 (see Chart). Indexes for current new orders and shipments showed a similar pattern, remaining positive but falling 7 points and 6 points, respectively. Firms reported an overall increase in inventories this month; the inventories diffusion index rose from ]7.7 to 6.6.
Eh, let’s look at the table as there’s some interesting facts in there.
There’s a hell of a lot of hope in there for the future, and it’s being partially reflected in hiring decisions today. Current conditions sure don’t support this.
Someone’s wrong — if the current conditions are right then you’re going to see some major misses in earnings coming down the pipe next year in the 1st and 2nd quarters — if, on the other hand, the turn really does come then these firms will be well-positioned to exploit it.
I think the bet on Europe managing to avoid a “big-kaboom” is misplaced, but that’s certainly what it looks like that’s what is being reflected in the survey. We shall see.
