But look at the earnings report.
Is there any doubt why the stock market roared ahead last year?
Now we have to deal with rising interest rates.
* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy expanded at a 5.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2009, and corporate profits climbed, setting the stage for gains in employment that may broaden and preserve the expansion.
The rise in gross domestic product, while smaller than the government's previous estimate issued last month, marked the best performance in six years, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Company earnings increased 8 percent, capping the biggest year-over-year gain in a quarter century.
"Profits are a leading indicator of the economy and suggest continued growth and likely job gains in the second quarter of this year," John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a note to clients after the report.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a8CxLvnMYlY4
