It was a pleasant opening today for the market with positive results and market activity from Europe, as well as generally positive domestic economic reports this morning. In particular, pending home sales were up 1.5% versus an expected 0.1% and last month’s -1.0%. Personal spending was a little better-than-expected while personal income was but a tad less-than-expected and lower than last month. The week will be fairly full as companies continue to r 
I was watching the ABC World News the other evening, and I was struck by the commercials they ran. The target demographic is obviously an older crowd (and since I was watching, I guess that includes me). Advertised products within the short 30-minute newscast addressed a variety of age-related ailments like low-T, erectile dysfunction, overactive bladder, constipation, hemorrhoids, and loose dentures. 
The most recent ISM manufacturing report has left much to be pessimistic about, not that the markets or the media seemed to notice.
First, the headline PMI dropped below 50 (marginally to 49.7) with a drop of 3.8, indicating contraction in the manufacturing sector for the first time since July 2009. It also missed the consensus by 2.3 and was outside the consensus range from Econoday.