While last week’s ISM Manufacturing report came in at a six-plus year high, the current environment for the larger services sector was not nearly as strong. While Wednesday’s release of the ISM Non-Manufacturing report for the month of August did improve to 55.3 relative to July’s reading of 53.9, the rebound was not as strong as expected (55.6).  Even with the disappointment, though, a reading of 55.3 is still solid.  On a combined basis and accounting for each sector’s share of the overall economy, the August combined ISM also came in at 55.3 (second chart).

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Looking at the internals of this month’s report shows a mixed picture.  Of the ten components, six increased on a m/m basis and eight rose relative to their levels from last year.  The largest increases this month were in Employment and Prices, while the largest declines were in Inventory Sentiment and Inventories.

Entering today, 49.6% of stocks in the S&P 500 were above their 50-day moving averages.  Below is a chart highlighting this breadth reading over the last year.  As you can see, this indicator has put in a series of lower highs as the year has progressed, which indicates that a smaller and smaller number of stocks are participating in each rally.

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Even though breadth has been weakening throughout the year, it hasn’t gotten outright negative.  In fact, 40% or more of stocks in the index have closed above their 50-day moving averages for 208 consecutive trading days.  That’s a remarkable streak.  As you can see below, the last time we had a streak this long was back in the early 1990s.  The longest streak since 1990 is 217 trading days, so we’ll have a new record if the current streak goes on for a couple more weeks.

From a sector perspective, Utilities has the strongest breadth at the moment with 92.9% of stocks above their 50-DMAs.  Technology and Health Care rank 2nd and 3rd.

At the bottom of the list is Financials with just 15.2% of stocks above their 50-DMAs.  A week ago it was the Energy sector that was struggling, but now it’s the Financials that have begun to break down.

Below is a look at weakening breadth for the S&P 500 Financial sector:

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Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of the favorite things we read over the past week. The links are mostly market related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.

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New Research

Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study by Deghan et al (The Lancet)

A new study covering 135,000 people in 18 countries over 10 years has found higher fat share of calorie consumption has significant positive effects on a variety of outcomes including reduced mortality and cardiac disease. [Link]

Unemployment’s Steady Fall Could Signal Trouble—or a Broader Structural Shift by David Harrison (WSJ)

Dueling theories of how low the natural rate of unemployment is prompting big questions about the monetary policy and how hot the economy can get. [Link; paywall]

Sports

The most peculiar injury risk in college football: 10 hours a day in dress shoes by Gene Wang (WaPo)

Navy Midshipmen are required to wear dress shoes with hard soles, and that creates a challenge for players whose feet are made more vulnerable by the footwear. [Link; soft paywall]

Would Chris Hayes Get a Hit in a Full Season of Play? by Eno Sarris (Fangraphs)

MSNBC anchor and Cubbies fanatic Chris Hayes wondered on Twitter recently if he’d be able to get a single hit over the course of a full MLB season; Sarris takes a crack at estimating whether he could. [Link]

Albert Pujols Is The Worst Player In Baseball by Neil Paine (538)

Thanks to no defensive value and a brutal run at the plate, statistically speaking Pujols has been without competition as the worst player in MLB this year. [Link]

Missteps

Soros’ Worst Trade by Kevin Muir (The Macro Tourist)

An oral history of the worst trade that George Soros ever made, and a great review of the overall chaos that prevailed the week of Black Monday in 1987. [Link]

How a Black-Card Wannabe Went Down In Flames by Kim Bhasin and Polly Mosendz (Bloomberg)

Prior to the catastrophic effort at festival organization that was Fyre, Bill McFarland ran a company offering a black card that wasn’t actually a black card. [Link]

Abandoned States: Places In Idyllic 1960s Postcards Have Transformed Into Scenes Of Abandonment by Pablo Iglesias Maurer (DCist)

In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the Poconos were a booming resort region, but time hasn’t been kind as modernist architecture and grand ballrooms have fallen into grim disrepair. [Link]

Human Tragedy

South Asia Is Also Experiencing The Worst Flooding In Decades And The Photos Are Horrifying by Anup Kaphle (Buzzfeed)

While the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey’s Houston flooding is all over American media, it pales in comparison to the floods that are savaging Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. [Link]

The first social media suicide by Rana Dasgupta (The Guardian)

The heartbreaking story of young woman in France that live-streamed her own suicide to a global audience; painful to read but important in this age of pervasive social media. [Link]

Research

Hedge funds see a gold rush in data mining by Lindsay Fortado, Robin Wigglesworth, and Kara Scannell (FT)

A long, comprehensive read on alternative data sources, including job sites, credit card data, and all sorts of digital footprints used to get ahead by investors. [Link; paywall]

Small Hedge Funds Seen Quickest to Drop Research Under MiFID by Nishant Kumar and Suzy Waite (Bloomberg)

With MiFID 2 entering effect in Europe, research will now be mandated to have a price tag, and that price tag may be one that many smaller investors can’t afford. [Link]

Tech

FANG still has teeth as tech dominance continues by Jack Neele (Robeco)

The ecstasy of near-monopoly and groundbreaking investments in the next wave of tech innovation is starting to face the agony of regulatory risk. [Link]

Odd

Mysterious Strangers Dog Controversial Insurer’s Critics by Mark Maremont (WSJ)

We really can’t sum this odd story about people posing as consultants showing up to do business with critics of a struggling insurance company. [Link; paywall]

GoT

Why ‘Game of Thrones’ fans may have to wait until 2019 for the final season by Kim Renfro (Business Insider)

While Thrones fans are still basking in the glow of last week’s season finale, they’re going to have a long wait for their next chance at catching the dragon. [Link]

Policing

The Militarization of the Hamptons by Joe Nocera (Bloomberg)

If you’re wondering why a town of 50,000 people on Long Island needs a counterterrorism squad complete with AR-15 toting officers dispatched to concerts, you’re not alone. [Link]

Have a great Sunday!