Gap-and-Crap it Was; ISM Plunges to 50.9, Lowest Level in 2 Years, New Orders Contract

``U.S. manufacturing expanded in July at the slowest pace in two years as new orders shrank and production eased. The Institute for Supply Management's factory index fell to 50.9 last month from 55.3 in June, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. Economists projected the index would drop to 54.5, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion''