Doin' Just Fine

Ed Driscoll and Newsbusters are both writing about the media's take on recent, good economic numbers.

Larry Kudlow says don't believe the polls over the markets:

I am one of those who believe that stocks are the best barometer of the health and wealth of our nation, and our nation’s businesses. Poll after poll keep telling us how unhappy people are with the President Bush, the economy, the Iraq war, and the direction America is going in. Yet stocks are telling a decidedly different story. They are making five-year highs among the broadest averages, a completely different message altogether.

Some important indexes like the NYSE (about 2500 stocks), the Transportation Index and the small-cap Russell 2000 are registering all-time highs. Today’s inflation report shows diminished price pressures. With respect to interest rates, the Wall Street rumor mill is discounting “one and done,” or at most, only two more Fed rate hikes to 5 percent. Profits continue their surge, consumers are spending, and the economy is healthy.