Leading Indicators turn down

Conference Board ^ | 5/17/07 | Ken Goldstein

[Redmen4ever]

The Conference Board announced today that the U.S. leading index decreased 0.5 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent and the lagging index increased 0.2 percent in April.

[Redmen4ever]

The Leading Indicators have down ticked 2 of the past 6 months, during which period they have lost a net of 0.2 points. During the past year, the Leading Indicators are down, net, 0.7 points.

Biggest problem areas is the housing market.

As you know, the economy has slowed down during the past six months. I don't think we know yet whether this slow down is merely the "soft-landing" that the Fed has been trying to engineer, to be followed by re-invigorated growth; or, a precusor of recession. I'm with Bernanke (and Greenspan) who (both) think the odds favor the soft-landing scenario (but think there is a real risk of recession).

[showme_the_Glory]

down ticked 2 of the past 6 months,

So, 4 out of 6 they stayed the same or went up. This is bad, we’re doomed.

[Moonman62]

I'm with Bernanke (and Greenspan) who (both) think the odds favor the soft-landing scenario (but think there is a real risk of recession).

I am with neither since noone really knows what will happen, and by the time it's evident, it's too late to do anything about it. The Federal Reserve shouldn't be engineering the economy, since the economy doesn't cause inflation. The credit cycle does nothing but cause problems and introduces inefficiency into the economy.