Factory Orders

Who: Commerce Department

When: First business day of each month for two months prior

What: Factory orders consist of the earlier announced durable goods report plus non-durable goods orders. Non-durable goods are food and tobacco, which both grow at fairly consistent monthly rates.

Why: Factory orders are watched for any revisions to durable goods orders, which can be very significant. The factory inventory piece of the report is also used to predict inventory levels for the quarterly GDP report.