In the midst of the perpetuating weak economy, there has been a handful of news stories with positive takes.
Alan Blinder in The WSJ on Thursday:
Right now, it looks like second-quarter GDP growth will come in only slightly negative, and third-quarter growth will finally turn positive. Compared to the catastrophic decline we recently experienced—with GDP dropping at roughly a 6% annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year—that would be a gigantic improvement.
The WSJ on Friday:
“Treasury prices sank for a second day in a row as improving economic data and corporate earnings fueled a strong rally in stocks, while next week’s record amount of bond supply weighed on the market.”
The CS Monitor in a story tomorrow:
Sales of new homes in the United States rose to their highest level in seven months, providing one of the strongest signs that the decline in the residential construction industry may be over. But to achieve that stabilization, home builders are continuing to lower prices to lure new buyers — a phenomenon taking place in real estate markets around the world. In June, the sales of new US homes jumped a higher-than-anticipated 11 percent from the level in May, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The new report suggests that the home-building industry is nearly halfway back to its June 2008 level of sales, after hitting a record low in January (seasonally adjusted).