Hard to say, it takes 6 months to feel the effect of interet rate cuts that started last Jan, hopefully the worst is behind us, but it is just difficult to tell. Investors still are jittery about investing right now.

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You and I, We are strangers by one chromosome

With the whole year 2000 madness behind us and computer industry consolidating and cutting jobs, it looks like a difficult situation that even more tax cuts may not be able to help. Greenscam must reduce interest rate more before the next Fed meeting.

Manufacturing activity drops for 13th straight month, but signs of turnaround seen

The Associated Press



NEW YORK (AP) Manufacturing activity declined for the 13th consecutive month in August, but at a significantly slower rate, raising hopes an economic turnaround is near.
The Tempe, Ariz.-based National Association of Purchasing Management announced that its index of business activity rose to 47.9 from 43.6 in July, much better than the 44.0 analysts had been expecting.

An index above 50 signifies growth in manufacturing, while a figure below 50 shows contraction.

New orders, a crucial component of the total reading, rose to 53.1 from 46.3 in July. That equates to the first sign of growth in new orders after 13 consecutive months of decline, analysts said.

Stocks jumped on the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 220 points to 10,170 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index moving up 29 points to 1,834 in early afternoon trading.

"The rate of decline decelerated significantly during the month," said Norbert J. Ore, who oversees the monthly survey.

He said production and new orders had grown after a long period of decline, indicating that a number of industries may be starting to recover.

"This is potentially the turning point for the manufacturing sector," said David Orr, chief economist for Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. "In the past when the new orders index has moved above 50 ... that has been a reliable indicator that the worst is over."

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said construction edged down in July, the fifth monthly decline in a row, as spending for home improvements fell sharply.

Spending for all building projects slipped by 0.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $859.4 billion, the government said.

The NAPM measure is closely tracked because it offers an early reading on the health of the manufacturing sector. The association's index is based on a survey of executives who purchase the raw materials for manufacturing at more than 350 companies.

Orr said the bounce in the NAPM index makes it far more likely that the overall economy will avoid a recession. It also should reassure Federal Reserve policy-makers, and probably persuade them to hold off on additional interest rate cut in October, he said.
www.abcnews.com (http://www.abcnews.com)

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Manu Narayan