The Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for November 2010 was released today. New orders overall increased 0.7%. Removing transportation (which includes aircraft) from the numbers, new orders increased 2.4%. This report is commonly referred to as Factory Orders in the press and refers to domestic manufactured goods, both durable and non-durable.
Ritholtz quotes from a recent quarterly statement by Hologic, a manufacturer of diagnostic and medical imaging systems and surgical products:
"This year will be challenging for our entire industry, as many drivers of our business remain uncertain," said Jack Cumming, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The severe and rapid economic downturn, result[ed] in a decline in hospital spending ... we witnessed an unprecedented decline in demand for capital equipment at the end of the quarter ... Hospital systems across the country have responded to tightening access to capital by restricting capital expenditures, implementing tight spending controls and reducing personnel." (emphasis added by Ritholtz)
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