General Motors and Chrysler reported total domestic sales of cars and light trucks for September. GM's sales were up 0.5%, but Chrysler reported a drop of 6.6%. The auto sales picture was muddled by an eight-week strike against auto transporter Ryder. GM is Ryder's largest customer. Ford reports its sales figures tomorrow.
Weekly retail sales reports presented a mixed picture. The Johnson Redbook Service report showed that sales rose by 1.4% during the five weeks ended September 30. Johnson Redbook reports same-store sales at more than 20 department, discount and chain stores. By way of contrast, Mitsubishi/Schroeder-Wertheim reported that its chain store sales index fell by 0.4% during the one-week period ended September 30---the largest decline since May.
How did the markets respond? The bond market rose, apparently focussing on whatever evidence of economic weakness it could glean from today's data. The stock market seemed to take a dim of what it observed. The DJIA closed down for the day.