Receding Recession?

Today's NY Times reports that in the third quarter, Ford posted an unexpected profit of almost $1 billion. Readers may remember that in the rush to bail out GM and other companies, Ford was one of the few that was not on the brink of bankruptcy. Nonetheless, as the Times piece mentions, it had posted 17 consecutive quarters of losses - until this quarter.

While I am not one to make economic predictions, I will say that there have been a number of good news on the economic front lately: slower rate of unemployment, growth in the GDP, slight rise in consumer spending on nondurable goods (typical consumer products), etc. All these combined give me reasons for mild (emphasis on mild) celebrations, and hope that the economy may indeed be on the mend. Of course I would still urge readers and friends to watch the economy before going out on a spending spree. It is conceivable that this is simply a calm before the storm.

For all of our sakes, I hope it is not the case.