Leading Indicators Dip Again in October

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=716&e=5&u=/ap/20041118/ap_on_bi_ge/economy

NEW YORK - The Index of Leading Economic Indicators (news - web sites), a widely watched gauge of future economic activity, fell in October for the fifth straight month, suggesting that the economy may be slowing, a private research group reported Thursday.


The Conference Board (news - web sites) said that its main indicator of future economic growth fell 0.3 percent in October, following declines of the same size in September and August. The October decline was steeper than the fall of 0.1 percent that economists had been expecting.


Ken Goldstein, an economist at the New York-based research group, called the latest decline in the index "a clear signal that the economy is losing steam." He also said that "worries about where the economy is headed may cause some strategic plans to be put on hold."


However, the Conference Board also said that while the weakness in the economy has become more widespread in recent months, the recent declines in the index have not been large enough or persistent enough to indicate that the current expansion of the economy is coming to an end.

more

[mhr]

1. Surprise, Surprise - Imagine That, The Economists Still Have No Clue

eom

[Judi Lynn]

2. This sounds a little more credible, doesn't it?

Some people may have been tempted to dance in the streets after reading, only Wednesday, Economists: Two good years coming. in this thread, but I doubt it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=999554

[Roland99]

3. Seven of the 10 leading indicators fell in October

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts&guid=%7B29170FEC-280F-4B5F-B1C4-8FB05D6C532F%7D

Seven of the 10 leading indicators fell in October, led by consumer expectations, money supply and interest rate spreads. Vendor performance, factory workweek, building permits and new orders for capital goods also contributed to the decline in the leading index.

Three indicators gained ground in October: initial claims for jobless benefits, orders for consumer goods and stock prices.

In the past six months, the leading index has dropped 0.7 percent, with three of the 10 indicators strengthening.

[natrat]

4. inflation up indicators down

houston we have a problem

[Roland99]

12. And its name is "Bush"!

[llmart]

5. I don't care what anyone says......

there was no economic expansion to start with. It's been nothing but downhill since the idiot-in-chief stole the election the first time around. You'd have to be in serious denial to think otherwise.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

6. Indeed

However, I detect a certain air of...doubt in your post. DON'T YOU KNOW THAT EVERYTHING OUR PREZNIT DOES IS BRILLIANT AND APPROVED BY GOD? HONESTLY!
:silly:

[callous taoboy]

7. I am buying only the staples and

have been for 4 years now. Not my president, not my economy.

[Zorra]

8. Yeah, I'm boycotting too. "Not my president, not my economy"

And not my war.

[callous taoboy]

9. and it sucks because

I need some stuff. I mean I need shoes, for crying out loud. I also need a few things for the house. If Kerry had been elected (officially) I was set to drop close to four grand into the economy.

[llmart]

16. Wow! I was/have been doing the same thing.....

For four years I refused to help this economy much. I was all set to splurge if Kerry was elected, but now will not. I can live without most of it. I hope the idiots who voted for him feel the pain the most. I hope they go out of business. They deserve it and I won't help them out one iota with my hard-earned dollars.

More people need to know the power of their dollar.

[callous taoboy]

18. Eggs Ackley!

I boycotted our local health food store for over a year because they put a "United We Stand" flag poster on the front door right after we invaded Iraq. I let the owner know that I opposed the war and found his propaganda insulting. He finally took it down a month ago, but he had already lost out on hundreds and hundreds of dollars of my business.

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Mixed feelings, and some ideas

I feel the urge to boycott too. On the other hand, a generalized boycott hurts the economy generally and that hurts the middle class and the poor most. The rich pukes can ride it out with ease.

I'm being more and more careful where and how I spend my money. I want to favor businesses that share my values. Yes, VALUES. WE have values!

You know those "green pages" shopping directories that are like the yellow pages but list environmentally friendly businesses? I think we need blue pages and red pages directories that list businesses run by people who favor democracy and freedom, to support them, and also those run by puke dictatorship-favoring businesses, to boycott them.

Targetted boycotts and targetted buying. That's what we need.

I'd really like to see a boycott of Diebold. Their main business isn't election stealing equipment. Their main business is ATMs. I'd like to see a boycott of Diebold ATM machines and the banks that use them. But I don't even know how to tell which machines are which; I don't think they have any labels except the bank's own labels. I suggested this idea on another thread but it was a pretty dead thread that I think everyone had stopped reading.

[llmart]

17. However, you're forgetting.......

that lots and lots of folks that voted for the idiot are not rich by any means. There was plenty of the "trailer trash" vote for dopey. In my area, a lot of the better off people voted for Kerry. They are oftentimes more educated, and the more educated voter went for Kerry.

[Supersedeas]

10. just turning the corner

[shrike]

13. Forgive my ignorance, but ...

What constitutes an official recession? Is it GDP numbers, leading indicators, what?

I happen to think we've never been out of recession, but what do I know?

[Roland99]

14. According to the NBER, a Recession is:

According to the NBER, a recession is "a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade." Contrary to popular wisdom, recession is not tied directly to a decline in the gross domestic product. The gross domestic product is measured only quarterly and is continually revised (often years later), and the NBER prefers to use monthly indicators such as employment, personal income, and manufacturing sales.



BTW, Q4 2003 was pretty hot in terms of growth.

[hatrack]

15. There's also a rule of thumb - 2 straight quarters of negative growth

.

[struggle4progress]

19. The New Prosperity -- brought to you by the Ownership Society. eom