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On Monday Ford offered a glimmer of light a auto manufacturing in irons by reporting that it had made a US$1B profit in Q-3. The car maker also reported its North American arm returning to profitability after four-and-a-half years and raised its official view on its outlook, saying it was on course to be “solidly profitable” by 2011. Ford, the only one of the USA’s Big 3 auto makers to avoid bankruptcy this year, was aided by cost cutting, increased market share and the US government sponsored incentives such as the “cash for clunkers” program. Ford’s net income in Q-3 was US$997M, or 29 cents per share, compared with a net loss of US$161M, or 7 cents per share, in the same period Y 2008. Savvy market observers expected on average that Ford would post a loss of 13 cents per share. Read more

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Orders for US durable goods rebounded in September, a positive sign for the manufacturing sector, according to government data released Wednesday. The Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured durable goods expected to last at least three years rose 1.0% in September, matching economists’ expectations. September’s rise in orders followed a 2.6% decline in August and a 4.8% surge in July. A 7.9% rise in orders for machinery, the best showing since an 8.5% surge in March 2008, led the overall increase. Excluding the transportation sector, where orders can vary widely from month to month, new orders rose 0.9% in September after a 0.4% fall in August. Although the manufacturing sector has shown signs of recovery, many economists are worried that demand could falter in the months ahead as various government stimulus programs expire.

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Home sales and orders for durable goods are likely to have risen in August, extending gains that have signaled the US is emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s, economists said before reports this week. Purchases of new and existing houses climbed to a combined 5.79M annual pace last month, the most in almost two years. Bookings for durable goods likely rose 0.4%, the fourth advance in five months. Housing and manufacturing, two areas that deepened the slump, are stabilizing as stimulus measures such as credits to first-time home buyers and “cash for clunkers” revive demand. While acknowledging the economy is healing, analysts project Ben Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve will commit to keeping interest rates low when they meet this week. Read more

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