'Worst Since COVID Lockdowns' - Regional Fed Surveys Plunged In July
It was ugly in macro-land today with existing home sales crashing (as home prices hit record highs). But a couple of Regional Fed surveys really laid an egg...
First out of the gate was the Philly Fed Services Activity Survey, which puked in July from two-year highs to near four-year lows...
Source: Bloomberg
The indexes for general activity at the firm level, new orders, and sales/revenues turned negative. The full-time employment index suggested a decline in employment, and prices are rising once again...
New orders fell to -7.1 vs 6.7
Sales fell to -3.5 vs 14.3
Prices paid rose to 30.2 vs 24.4
Full-time employment fell to -4.9 vs 14.6
Part-time employment fell to 4.0 vs 13.1
Of particular note was that the capital expenditures-equipment fell to 10.8 vs 24.5... not a great sign for the future of AI investment that is still supporting stocks.
And it's not just Services, The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey crashed to -17 (the worst since the peak of the COVID lockdowns)...
Source: Bloomberg
And under the hood, it was even more of a shitshow...
Shipments fell to -21
New order volume slowed to -23
Order backlogs rose to -20
Capacity utilization slowed to -13
Inventory levels of finished goods increased to 20
Overall, it's bad news as Bidenomics shits the bed...
Source: Bloomberg
We just cannot wait to hear what Harris has up her sleeve to 'fix' this...