DC Lite #183

5 of Thursday's best charts and insights

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1. Investor home purchases. In Q2, "investors bought 1 of every 6 U.S. homes that sold—purchasing $43 billion worth of properties—and 1 of every 4 low-priced homes that sold."

2. Industrial production (II). The "drop in factory production was about auto output. Excluding autos, manufacturing output would have increased 0.3%, up 5% SAAR over the last three months."

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3. Active managers vs. US equities. The NAAIM Exposure Index dropped to the lowest since January (56.5).

4. Short interest (I). "Average short interest for the entire S&P 500 index was 2.6% at the end of July, up from 2.2% a year earlier and matching a high for the year."

5. Profit per employee vs. margins. “As it has over the last three decades, this rise in profit per job during the last year is signaling a likely improvement in the S&P 500 profit margin in the coming year.”