-->The prices paid index stole the show for November's purchasing managers' report from Chicago, jumping to a stratospheric 94.1 vs. 79.6 in October. The reading, a 26-year high, indicates that an overwhelming proportion of purchasers (67%) reported a month-to-month increase in prices compared to those reporting a decrease (3%).

But energy prices are currently on the way down, perhaps shifting emphasis away from prices to growth. Here the report is mixed with a solid headline number, 61.7 vs. 62.9, clouded by trouble underneath. New orders tumbled sharply to 61.6 vs. 72.6 and point to slower rates of growth ahead in production. Production also slowed in November, to 63.8 from 68.3.

Other readings included a step back in employment at 50.3 vs. 51.3 but a strong pop higher in backlog orders from 56.9 to 62.0 -- an 11-year high. Supplier deliveries showed further slowing, an indication of tightness in the supply chain, while inventories showed increased accumulation.

Bonds dipped and the dollar firmed immediately following the report, in likely reaction to the prices paid number. But the balance of the report points to slowing rates of growth ahead. Any similar prices-paid reading in tomorrow's ISM manufacturing report could trigger real fireworks in the financial markets