By
Matt Koppenheffer
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November 4, 2011
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The big macro can cause big moves in the market. What does today's headline macro news mean for your portfolio?
What's happening: Germany's Economy Ministry announced that industrial orders dropped by 4.3% in September from August. Orders from within Germany fell 3%, while orders from outside of Germany dropped 5.4%, led by a 12.1% dive in orders from other Eurozone countries.
In plain English, please: Germany is a manufacturing and exporting powerhouse. If Superman had kryptonite, Germany's threat is an industrial slowdown. This could be a worrisome sign because if the region's Superman watches its strength get sapped, it may lose its appetite to take everyone else's fiscal problems on its shoulders.
Obviously, the most troublesome aspect of the release is that orders from the eurozone fell so drastically. We need to bear in mind, too, that these are the numbers from September, and the uncertainty and fear in the region was only turned up further in October.
Stocks to watch: The economic health of Germany has wide-ranging impacts for the eurozone and the rest of the world. However, investors may want to pay particular attention to companies based in Germany in light of this report. For U.S. investors, that means individual stocks like Siemens (NYSE: SI ) , Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB ) , Aixtron (Nasdaq: AIXG ) , and SAP (NYSE: SAP ) , as well as the broad New Germany Fund (NYSE: GF ) .
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