Thanksgiving Cheer

Thanksgiving is tomorrow in the United States and in line with that celebration the market is giving thanks for some reasonably good numbers.

Initial claims dropped to a level that signals the economy may be entering into a recovery zone. While one data point does not make a trend it is certainly encouraging to see some improvement in this number.

Gains in October payrolls along with the subsequent increase in hours and wages resulted in an increase in consumptions of 0.4%. Once again not incredibly robust, but we will take whatever we can get at this stage.

Finally consumer sentiment reached a five month high. The move was driven mainly by the performance of the equity markets and the improving unemployment numbers.

Although these three indicators have not formed a legitimate trend it is encouraging that they are starting to improve. Further improvement will assist the market and hopefully will allow continued strength in the dollar as this will keep inflation down to a manageable level and allow the authorities the time to begin to implement austerity measures. We will see if they take the opportunity presented to them or whether they squander it.

Happy thanksgiving to everyone.