However sharply GDP looks to jump in Thursday's third-quarter report, dead flat is the outlook for US activity based on October's flashes. PMI manufacturing rose 1.1 points to 50.9, moving above the breakeven line for the first time since April. Services, sitting right on the 50 line, is virtually unchanged from September's 50.1.

The manufacturing sample reported the best pickup in new orders in a year while contraction in orders slowed for services. Output in both samples has picked up so far this month. And confidence in the outlook, led by services, is the best since May last year. A softening in inflationary readings, including a 3-year low for cost increases, is likely behind the improved sentiment.

Today's flashes may have forecasters edging up their estimates for the ISM manufacturing index which in September came in at 49.0. Yet for services, ISM's index, at 53.6 in September, has been coming in several points higher than PMI services, though the nearly 1 point gain in today's report may hint at a similar increase for the ISM. The ISM reports for October will be posted on Wednesday (manufacturing) and Friday (services) next week.

Services have held in the 50 column the last eight reports but have been noticeably slowing with the consensus for October at 49.4 versus September's 50.1. Manufacturing, at 49.8 in September, is expected to edge lower to 49.5 in August.

The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an early estimate of current private sector output by combining information obtained from surveys of around 1,000 manufacturing and service sector companies. The flash data are released around 10 days ahead of the final report and are typically based upon around 85 percent of the full survey sample. The report tracks changes in variables such as new orders, stock levels, employment and prices across both manufacturing and services. Production is also tracked, defined as"production" for manufacturing and"output" for services. Results are synthesized into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) output versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster output is growing (contracting). The report also contains flash estimates of the manufacturing and services PMIs. The data are produced by S&P Global.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the purchasing managers' manufacturing indexes, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures.