Economic Signals as Rorschach Tests
In the month since I last wrote in this space, there has been a surge of financial optimism. Banks that are supposed to be in deep trouble have reported profits (though there were a few too many accounting gimmicks for my taste). Some of them, like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are talking about wanting to give back their government bailout money. Bank stocks, moribund not so long ago, have been rising a bit. Other economic indicators suggest that, if the economy hasn’t exactly turned around, at least the pace of decline is slowing. There has been talk of “green shoots” from the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, and “glimmers of hope” from President Obama.
So perhaps the better question to ask this week is where are we? Can we come out of our financial fallout shelters yet, or are there more economic bombs still to drop? Will the results of the stress tests, due out next week, make things better or worse? Have the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve managed to stop the bleeding? Can we start breathing a little easier?
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