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What Gives: Durable Goods Or Stocks?
With new U.S. Durable Goods orders having come in lower for 6 of the last 7 months, and the S&P 500 having chugged happily higher over that same period, market analysts have to be asking the question "what gives?" Here is a historic chart of new durable goods orders -- top --and the S&P 500 on the bottom. The March Durable Goods figures will be released tomorrow at 8:30 AM EDT by the U.S. Census Bureau and are expected to rise by 0.7% The long-term correlation seen in this chart makes perfect sense; when consumers and businesses are buying "big ticket" items the economy does well and the stock-market benefits. When ... (full story)