Reports Stir Hopes of U.S. Factory Revival

Yahoo ^ | Tuesday February 17, 5:35 pm ET | By Jonathan Nicholson

[Owen]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturers showed further signs of revival on Tuesday, as reports from the Federal Reserve and one of its regional banks showed gains in the sector in January and early February.

[Owen]

And the market surged today. Let's get started, folks, on an unrelenting litany of good economic news posted here and everywhere you go. Good news this and good news that. Naysayers and negativists can begin their litany of negative comments to persist all the way to election day and paint themselves as someone no one wants to hear.

[lasereye]

If the jobs numbers are below expectations, that's all we'll hear on the nets. Even if there's clearly an uptrend in hiring.

[steve86]

Let's get started, folks, on an unrelenting litany of good economic news posted here and everywhere you go.

I just don't understand selective reporting of the news, whether left or right, good or bad. Not all of us here are politicians and we don't all spin for a living.

BTW, you need to find out what a moderate-volume short-covering rally is. It isn't necessarily a positive thing.

[Bombard]

Could some of these so called experts be fixing their predictions to make the President look bad? No this would never happen, would it!

[Jorge]

I just don't understand selective reporting of the news, whether left or right, good or bad. Not all of us here are politicians and we don't all spin for a living.

Maybe not. But people who lead in this world are optimists who have a positive outlook on life.

That isn't spin, it's an attitude that is a formula for success.
Attitude is more important than money, education, appearance, giftedness, skill or present circumstances.

There is plenty of negative news out there for those who want to complain their lives away and more than enough positive news out there for those who want to have a positive outlook.

And the truth is, things are have been improving under Bush when it comes to the big picture. That's not spin. That's a fact.

[steve86]

But people who lead in this world are optimists who have a positive outlook on life.

It depends how you define optimists. NASDAQ 2000 speculators were optimists, too.

People like me are optimistic things will eventually change for the better. But excessive debt/monetary printing presses/binging on consumption are not "better".

[Jorge]

It depends how you define optimists. NASDAQ 2000 speculators were optimists, too.

I don't define optimists as being naive or short sighted. I say prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

But those who are ignoring the overall encouraging economic news and dwelling on every little bad report they can find are losers who spread negativity and discouragement everywhere they go. And then they die.

People like me are optimistic things will eventually change for the better. But excessive debt/monetary printing presses/binging on consumption are not "better".

Eventually change for the better? The biggest rise in GDP in 20 years in the 3rd quarter. Stock market rising from 7000 to over 10,000? The biggest housing boom ever. Interest rates low. Inflation low. Unemployment drops from 6.4% to 5.6% this year.

There's plenty to be positive about. Unless you're a Democrat.

[steve86]

Stock market rising from 7000 to over 10,000? The biggest housing boom ever.

You have to realize that the Nikkei did exactly this: Cyclical rallies in a bear market, two of them in their case, about same percentage, same shape, then the bear came out of hibernation and swallowed the speculators. It about halved from there.

The housing bubble is most definitely not a good thing. That happened in Japan, too. Followed by a RE/stock market crash. Just read about someone who bought an apartment for, I think 500,000 yen and now it is worth 270,000 (the ratio is right, anyway).

I am most positive about removing the financial corruption -- some day. But many will be hurt en-route.

I am not willing to feast on the current orgy of money worship, conservative or not.

I am glad you're at least preparing for the worst even if you don't really expect it to happen.

[youngjim]

Short covering!

Higher highs and higher lows since last March belie your sophomoric analysis--we must be in a year long short covering rally!

Where did the shorts, go short? Oh, I get it, they're still short from two years ago even with their positions out of the money for 12 months.

Please leave the economic forecasts to the adults.

[steve86]

All cyclical rallies have higher highs and higher lows, until they don't.

Short interest and put/call ratios have remained high -- check for yourself. Until recently when the P/C ratio decreased indicating some bear exhaustion (the rally won't end until the bears give up).

Bears have been rabidly shorting every correction (if you can call them that).

Your name calling is juvenile.

[youngjim]

looking right here at an S&P daily chart--haven't had even a one week correction in a year.

Short interest is high compared to what?

And what name did I call you? Sensitive to criticism are we?

[steve86]

Looking right here at an S&P daily chart--haven't had even a one week correction in a year.

I agree -- no real corrections -- that's why I qualified the term. Do you not understand the phrase "if you can call it that"?

Nikkei's two major bear market counter-cyclical rallies both had similar profiles and lack of corrections. Followed by MAJOR declines.

Each pullback is met with shorting and put buying.

A daily newsletter I subscribe to frequently shows short transactions to be more than 50% of overall volume on NYSE, and this is not limited to down days.

When someone with the screenname "youngjim" tells me to "leave it to the adults", and I have been following stock market internals since 1974, I tend to permanently remove that person from my list of credible posters. And no longer read their replies.