Not only was there no recession [here] but the downturn has turned into an upturn. First, the jobless rate fell to 5.0 percent [here]. That is officially full employment. And the stock market recovered, with the Dow Industrials topping 13,000 again [here].
For the first time in months, analysts and executives sound upbeat again. Many of them see a broad, sustained recovery in both the economy and the financial markets coming in second half of this year....Think President Bush will get any credit for this? Don't hold your breath.
UPDATE: Bloomberg reports:
Futures traders are betting for the first time since December 2005 that the dollar will gain against the euro.The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and other large speculators on a decline in the euro compared with those on a gain, known as net shorts, was 21,315 on April 29, compared with net longs of 18,907 a week earlier, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show.
``The dollar has already turned against the euro,'' said Benedikt Germanier, a currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Connecticut. ``The dollar will go to $1.52 in a straight line.''
Read it here.
