The Conference Board's November consumer confidence Index fell in November for the fourth consecutive month and was noticeably weak among lower income consumers.

Hiring intentions seem to have gone up a little bit and confidence is edging up. It's right to assume that the ECB will raise rates in March.

Profits are on the rebound but is it sustainable? Given the extent of the previous bubble in tech, the recovery should be slower. There's a whiff of a pickup in business spending but not enough to hang your hat on just yet.

The first two quarters of last year were OK but not stellar. If we still have double digit increases in earnings during the third quarter, that would be good news.

appears to be on a mend.

The consumer has not run out of gas yet, provided the job market continues to remain fairly decent.