The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index fell to 46.1 in September rather than rising to the 52 that economists expected. The index, considered a precursor to the national Institute for Supply Management index to be released on Thursday, pointed to a Midwestern manufacturing industry than is weaker than had been expected.
Well, it's not weaker than what I expected! Ha, seriously, the whole green shoots meme was a cute little bullet from some Fedster's talking points memo. Those green shoots are drying up pretty fast at places like CIT Group:
CIT Group Inc. shares plunged Wednesday as the commercial lender is reportedly trying to craft an exchange that would cut its debt and offer bondholders an equity stake in the company in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.
Weaker than expected manufacturers . . . and a weakening lender to those same types of manufacturers. Come on, folks, admit that we're moving through the eye of this economic hurricane and back into the gale force winds of a renewed credit crunch.