Quote Originally Posted by Paul
i don't believe so either; new studies are out last month consumers spending went up. there is money out there the problem is people/companies are more cautious b/c of the state of things around them. my company is a 30+ million dollar company and we are just tightening our belts a little and pushing off expensive projects till we see some turn for the better.
Retail did have a small bounce last quarter, but it was small and most people associated it with xmas spending. There was also a rise in consumer debt during the same period. People bought more, but they just put it on credit and put themselves in an even worse situation.

The only real, 100% truthful measures of the economy are the GDP and unemployment. The problem is, they are only quarterly, at best, indicators. For more up to date info the best places to look is the stock market because you will never see the GDP go up and unemployment go down while the market goes down.