While new orders for manufactured durable goods plunged in June, a closely watched economic indicator inside the preliminary Commerce Department report released Wednesday shows a gain for the first time in three months, as a separate report shows a hike in new home sales and another is calling for even better retail sales. Total new orders for items designed to last three years or more fell 4%, the biggest drop in nearly two years, following a downwardly revised May decline of 2.8% and marking the second straight monthly drop Excluding transportation orders, which fell in June by 10.5%, the overall decrease was a much smaller 0.5%.
