[antaresequity]

You know, when you boil it all down...it really doesnt matter what the actual numbers are...the only thing that matters is that the numbers either beat, meet, or fall short of expectations...

I trade commodities and equity contracts for a living...its the expectations that move markets and the like...

Everything else is already priced in...all of the big players knew this Christmas was gonna be ho hum...so its no big deal...

Unexpected windfalls, unrealized expections...thats what the pros are looking for...

[LS]

I agree that that expectations move markets. But expectations are guesses of what reality will be, not necessarily reality.

My point is that ALL the "gloomster" people here jump on the sightest bit of bad information, but any good information (and I consider this report a pretty significant report, as I do the constantly upward reports of U.S. productivity) they greet with "We can't trust the numbers." As always, I just want consistency. If we can't trust the numbers, then we can't trust all those bad numbers that people have been regurgitating for months. And if we CAN trust them, then these are pretty good numbers.