JPM economist Michael Feroli said.....>

US DATA REACT: JPM economist Michael Feroli said "new orders at manufacturers of

durable goods fell 6.8% in July, dragged down by a 70.7% drop in the volatile

civilian aircraft category. Away from transportation, however, the July report

was solid, as ex-transport orders rose 0.5%."

- Feroli cited "strong details related to capital equipment activity; orders for

nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft increased 0.4% and related shipments

were up 1.0% and were revised up in June from 0.1% to 0.6%. Today's advance

report does not provide an exhaustive breakdown of the details of the capital

goods subgroup; the capital goods industries reported in the advance report -

machinery, electrical equipment, etc. - did not perform especially well, so the

source of the capital goods strength will remain a mystery until the full

factory orders report is released in 2  weeks."

- He adds "it looks like real equipment spending is tracking a 9% annualized

growth rate in Q3, up from our prior tracking of 5%. If sustained in August and

September, this would mark the 2nd straight quarter of above-trend equipment

spending growth."