The press is having a field day spewing out negative news on the economy. Even when large increases in the stock indexes occur the information is played down. Of course there is plenty of negative economic news out there and the liberal press enjoys quoting dooms-day economists and financial writers looking for the worst. It is no wonder that the general public only sees the clouds and only gloom on the horizon. Hidden among the back pages and probably not even covered is a report provided by The Conference Board and Bloomberg News. A release on Thursday, April 17, 2008 announced that the U.S. leading economic indicators increased 0.1 percent, the first gain in six months. This measure points to the direction of the economy over the next three to six months. Five of the ten leading indicators were positive contributors. Three of the four coincident indicators were positive and the lagging index increased 0.3 percent in March. Bloomberg News quoted J P Morgan Chase & Co’s CEO Jamie Dimon with the following: ”The credit market crisis is more than halfway finished as financial firms reduce leverage and may be as much as 80% over.” I can hardly wait for the mainstream financial media to print the Conference Board’s release.

Gary E. Marsella

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