One (business) day after the UMich survey hinted that economic optimism is set to jump amid collapsing inflation expectations, moments ago the New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey unexpectedly cratered from 11.1 to -31.3, slicking through consensus expectations for a 5.0 print like a hot knife through butter, and suffering the 2nd biggest monthly drop on record.

The big miss of the month's first regional manufacturing survey was driven by a decline across all indicators, but especially by a sharp drop in the forward looking New Orders which tanked to -29.6 from +6.2, while the shipments index plummeted nearly fifty points to -24.1, indicating a sharp decline in both orders and shipments, and strongly hinting that a hard-landing recession is inevitable and that, for all the posturing, a Fed rate cut is imminent after all.