Still, the report showed underlying softness

Madoff, once the mac eyelash curler Nasdaq chairman, used his reputation and savvy to dupe sophisticated investors, regulators and Wall Street banks. Merkin invested more than $2 billion with Madoff, who used money from new investors to pay returns to previous clientsOrders for durable goods rose 1.1 percent last month on strong demand for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists had expected orders to rise just 0.4 percent. Still, the report showed underlying softness, and analysts said the outlook did not look much better. “With global and domestic demand continuing to mac eyeliner weaken, we believe that this relatively brisk pace of new orders activity is unlikely to be sustained,” said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities in New York. A slowdown in China and a looming recession in Europe have taken some of the shine off the American manufacturing sector, leaving the economy stuck in a soft mac foundation patch.