Buried in a story about tumbling home prices resulting in a pickup in home sales was this — the index of leading indicators actually turned up in December. WSJ:

the composite index of leading indicators rose 0.3% in December, to 99.5, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by The Conference Board. The December figure reversed a 0.4% decline in November and a 1.0% decline in October. Over the six months ended December, the index has fallen 2.5%.

In December, four out of the 10 indicators rose. The largest positive contributors to the index were real money supply, the interest rate spread, manufacturers new orders for consumer goods and materials and manufacturers’ new orders for nondefense capital goods. The most significant negative contributors were building permits and average weekly manufacturing prices. The index was equal to 100 in 1996.

Hard to say what’s going on. Behemoths like GE are at risk of losing their credit market ratings, and the “stimulus” bill is approaching $900 billion, but about half the leading indicators are on the rise. It’s hard to say who is right, but it is pretty clear to us — supporters of TARP — that this non-stimulus stimulus is a step in the wrong direction.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under business, Democrats, General, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.