8/17/2015
By Dominique Paul, Research Analyst

The New York Fed District released its monthly Empire State Manufacturing report. The Empire State Manufacturing report serves as an indicator for the broader nation’s manufacturing behavior. For the month of August, the New York Fed District’s general business conditions index plummeted to a reading of minus 14.92 from a positive 3.86 in the prior month. Weakness was seen throughout many of the components in the index. New orders decreased to -15.7 from -3.5 while shipments fell to -13.79 from 7.88. Inventories and company backlog also decreased.

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) released its monthly housing market index (HMI) report. For the month of August, overall business confidence rose by 1 point to a reading of 61. The index has hovered in the upper 50s, lower 60s range for most of the year. Buyer traffic has improved slightly, rising by 2 points to a reading of 45. The current sales conditions component also demonstrated some improvement, rising to 66 points. Builders remain optimistic regarding sales in the next six months as that specific component stands at 70.

The Census Bureau released its quarterly e-commerce sales report for Q2-2015. As of June 30^th, e-commerce sales accounted for 7.2% of total retail sales. This is up 20 basis points from Q1 where e-commerce sales accounted for 7.0% of total retail sales. Sequentially e-commerce sales grew by 4.2% after gaining an upwardly revised 3.7% (from 3.5%) in the prior quarter. All in all, the ecommerce business is expanding at a much faster rate than total retail sales. For the same quarter, total retail sales rose by 1.6%.

Dominique Paul
Wall Street Strategies

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