FYI: After a better than expected Empire Manufacturing report on Tuesday, today’s release of the Philly Fed Manufacturing report also came in better than expected (34.4 vs 21.0) and was up from last month’s reading of 23.2. What makes this month impressive is that it now represents the 18th straight month that the headline index has come in above 20. That hasn’t happened since – well, ever! Prior to this month’s report, there had never been a streak of more than 17 months since the indicator’s inception where the headline index was above 20.
Looking at the chart below, the current level indicates that further upside momentum may be hard to come by. Outside of the short-period in the early 1980s, the reading on General Business conditions has had a hard time staying above the 35-ish level.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/philly-feeling-fin/
