from what I understand the august figures for the USA across the economy are much better then the July figures which were the ones causing much consternation in the USA. The US had a lot of flooding and hurricane issues in the 2nd qtr of the year which like they did hear knocked the wind out of their sails a bit.
MAN trucks in europe reported an 18% increase in fwd orders a few days ago. People don't order trucks unless they think they will be carrying something which augers well.
Not saying either economy is going gang busters but perhaps they aren't going to the dogs either.
