Stock Markets Are Doing Something They've Only Done 3 Times Since 1948 -- Should You Be Worried?

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) is the oldest and most widely respected set of data on the industrial economy in the U.S. It has also indicated a contraction in the U.S. manufacturing sector for the last nine months. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has hit all-time highs.The concurrence of nine consecutive months of manufacturing contraction (based on PMI data) and the S&P 500 index hitting all-time highs has only happened three times before, in 2023-2024,1995-1996, and 1984-1985.There are two reasons why it's not a big deal, and one that implies an opportunity. First, the manufacturing sector isn't as large a part of the economy as it used to be. It was more than a quarter of the U.S. economy when the modern PMI began in 1948, and it is now less than 10%.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool