Dive, dive! Philly Fed, which is typically fairly well correlated with the next month’s ISM, dove in February, falling to -41.3 versus 24.3 in January. It is 20,000 leagues below expectations, to strain a lame metaphor.
New orders fell to -30.3 from -22.3, suggesting no upturn in the region is in sight in the months ahead.
On the sunny side of the street, The Conference Board reports that leading indicators unexpectedly rose 0.4% in January. They suggest the recession may ease.
If the market looks past this data, it can look past anything. So far it is, with EUR/JPY trading near 120.00.
