Durable Goods Orders Jump Again

- Durable Goods Orders for July rose 1.3% versus estimates of unch. and an upwardly revised 1.3% gain in June.

- Durables Ex Transports for July rose .7% versus estimates of a .7% decline and an upwardly revised 2.4% gain in June.

BOTTOM LINE: Orders for US durable goods unexpectedly increased in July and June orders were revised higher, Bloomberg reported. Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a gauge of future business investment, rose 2.6%, the most since April. Shipments of those items, which are used to compute GDP, rose .6% versus a .4% gain the prior month. Gains in orders for machinery, metals, communications gear, automobiles and aircraft all contributed to the increase in demand in July. I expect Durable Goods to continue to remain firm through year-end on inventory rebuilding and better-than-expected demand. Tomorrow's preliminary 2Q GDP report should show a meaningful revision higher from an original 1.9% estimate.