Is the glass half full or half empty? Or perhaps the analogy is not in this economy, work, because people Busted in reality only if we have reached the bottom of this bitter drink bad banks, housing markets and layoffs. The answer seems so difficult to see how a good analogy.
However, the rally of shares being started banking with good news in recent months and this trend will continue. Wells Fargo & Co. said last week it expects to post record profits for the first quarter of 2009. This week brings reports of other major banks such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Wells Fargo will receive $ 25 billion in bailout funds from the government, which is smaller than the other major banks. Solid quarter of the bank and a company to rush mortgage. The Associated Press reports that “Wells Fargo will receive about $ 190 billion in applications for mortgages, a jump of 64 per cent in the previous quarter. More than 40 percent of that amount came in March.”
So it seems that good news for both the banking and housing. Although a large proportion of refinancing applications has shown that 25 per cent of customers want to buy a new home. Wells Fargo CFO Howard Atkins, told the AP that government efforts to reduce interest rates and other programs for the housing industry at bay helped. But he refused to appear too optimistic. “It is premature to conclude the economy has become,” said Atkins. “I can only say that we see a lot of business.”
There was mixed news in the sector jobs in the past week, with inscriptions in unemployment falls more than expected, but there are still received a record number of people receiving unemployment benefits. According to AP, economic analysts and the Federal Reserve is expected that this trend will continue this year as companies adapt to the changing economy.
Retail sales, by showing the other hand, some signs of stabilization.
According to AP, the discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. continues to be a moderate increase in profits. Although sales have fallen to other retailers, the decline was smaller than expected.
Thus, the bottom of the bitter drink for? “In difficult economic times turn, the Americans, to see the numbers to see if things improve. Gauging the mood in the Republic can not be quantified, “said AP National Writer Ted Anthony recently.
It’s even harder to quantify, although the figures will give you different stories and nobody seems to stick to his neck, proclaiming the end of the recession. Although Anthony has admitted there are subtle signs that things get better, he was ready to say that things could always “less bad”.
According to Anthony, “figures of the index Mood Gallup consumption has increased 6 points for the week ending April 5, the week the fourth consecutive year, they came out. The index is now higher than in the worn in over a year – perhaps due to the High rampant stock market. And an AP-GfK poll shows the number of Americans who believe the country in the right direction has more than doubled from October to February – 40 percent. Not that it’s all good, mind you. just, well yes, less bad “.