An early peek at economic activity for November tells us to keep our optimism in check. The ISM Manufacturing Index dropped to 49.5 last month, the first dip under the neutral 50 mark since August. In short, we have a new data point that turned negative for profiling the economy. Is it a robust sign that the economy’s tanking, or is this another head fake courtesy of Hurricane Sandy’s distortions on the economic trend? The answer—not to be confused with the speculation in the here and now—is waiting for us in the near-term future.
Daily Archives: December 3, 2012
Major Asset Classes | November 2012 | Performance Review
The fiscal cliff is drawing closer in the US as the recession in Europe rolls on, but the major asset classes overall posted a modest gain for November. The Global Market Index (GMI) earned 0.8% last month and is up 9.8% on the year. The big winner in November: foreign stocks in developed markets as tracked by MSCI EAFE, which climbed 2.4% last month. But EAFE’s fixed-income counterpart (Citigroup World Government Bond Index ex-US) was on the leading edge of losses, closely followed by REITS—each posting 0.4% declines. Otherwise, the month-to-date numbers were red-ink free.