ISM Manufacturing Index

If you look past the calamitous Libyan mess, there's plenty of cause for optimism at home. And investors with a longer-term view of the markets should consider the ongoing uncertainty stemming from the Middle East as a potential entry point for buying stocks.

This week we turn the calendar page, and that change brings with it a raft of economic data. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver his semiannual monetary policy testimony before Congress, while Wall Street waits on more earnings reports.

Pharmacy giant Walgreen's earnings are expected to be flat year-over-year, while Family Dollar Stores and electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit are expected to post earnings gains.

Retail and housing are lingering concerns, but the nation's factory sector isn't ready to concede economic defeat yet. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index unexpectedly rose 1.8 points in August to 56.3.

When the ISM's manufacturing reading is combined with its services reading, a different -- and far less positive -- picture of the U.S. economy emerges.

Optimists will note that the sector kept growing in June -- its 11th straight month of growth. The pessimists will argue that the ISM index's plunge to 56.2 from 59.7 in May represents another sign of a slowing economic recovery.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 60.4 -- its highest level since June 2004. It was the ninth consecutive monthly rise for the index and indicates that the expansion in manufacturing is becoming more broad-based.

Two economic indicators offered mixed signals in reports released on Thursday, with the manufacturing sector posting a stronger than expected performance, but construction spending lagging behind forecasts.

There was one victory and one setback regarding the latest construction and factory data points for the U.S. economy: construction spending rose but a key manufacturing index edged lower. Construction spending rose 0.8 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $941.9 billion, the...

Call it one positive and one negative on the latest data points for the U.S. economy. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index revealed a slowing contraction in the nation's factory sector in April, while the U.S. Commerce Department announced that factory orders declined 0.9...