New orders for all factory goods are down 0.2 percent in August after rising 4.9 percent in July. The August decrease is below the consensus of up 0.2 percent in the Econoday survey of forecasters. New orders for durable goods are unrevised at unchanged in August while nondurable goods orders are down 0.5 percent. The August decline can be attributed to a larger than anticipated decrease of 2.3 percent in petroleum and coal products.

New orders for all factory goods excluding transportation are down 0.1 percent in August after up 0.3 percent in July while orders excluding defense are down 0.4 percent in August after up 4.9 percent in the prior month. Transportation orders are down 0.8 percent in August. Orders for defense capital goods are up 5.4 percent.

The so-called"core" new orders nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft are up 0.3 percent in August after down 0.3 percent in July.

Factory orders are expected to rise 0.2 percent in August after July's 5.0 percent surge that was driven by a rebound for commercial aircraft.

Factory orders represent the dollar level of new orders for both durable and nondurable goods. This report gives more complete information than the advance durable goods report which is released one or two weeks earlier in the month.

Investors want to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it usually dictates how various types of investments will perform. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers more moderate growth which is less likely to cause inflationary pressures. By tracking economic data like factory orders, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for these markets and their portfolios. The orders data show how busy factories will be in coming months as manufacturers work to fill those orders. This report provides insight to the demand for not only hard goods such as refrigerators and cars, but nondurables such as cigarettes and apparel. In addition to new orders, analysts monitor unfilled orders, an indicator of the backlog in production. Shipments reveal current sales. Inventories give a handle on the strength of current and future production. All in all, this report tells investors what to expect from the manufacturing sector, a major component of the economy and therefore a major influence on their investments.