Factory Orders Cloud Mr. Market’s Sunny Day

The U.S. Department of Commerce released its Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for January on Wednesday, and the news was not great. New orders to U.S. factories fell the most in five months, weighed down by a decline in military hardware and commercial aircraft purchases.

New orders fell 2.0 percent to $472.9 billion for the month, and are now down for two out of the last three periods. Although a negative economic indicator, the reported figure still beat consensus estimates for a month-over-month decline of 2.2 percent. January’s contraction compares to 1.3 percent growth experienced in December.

Excluding transportation, which is highly variable, new orders increased 1.3 percent. Taken alone, new orders for transportation equipment declined 19.8 percent to $59.6 billion…