Here is a "bullish" uptake on what is going on from CBS.Marketwatch.
cbs.marketwatch.com
<<It was time to buy more stuff
By Marshall Loeb, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 6:11 PM ET April 2, 2004
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- After a disappointing, basically flat first quarter of this year, the stock market snapped back sharply last week and enjoyed a bright spring rally.
The basic reason for the rebound was that a long-awaited scene was taking place across the nation. In countless offices, shops and factories, thousands upon thousands of middle managers, supervisors and foremen marched into the office of the Big Boss, stuck out their chests and said something like this:
"Boss, we just have to buy more stuff and hire more staff. We've been stretching ourselves and making do with the old tools and machines and people, and we just can't do it any longer. Some of our competitors have started to purchase the new stuff -- it's really dramatically improved-and they are eating our lunch. The time has come to retool, rehire and buy!"
And buy they have. Indeed, they have begun to buy in earnest. If they keep this up, it will be happy times for the economy -- and for the stock market.
Largely as a result of the new demand, employment went up substantially.
In March, the economy surprised just about everybody and, the Labor Department reported, added 308,000 jobs. That was about three times as many as economists had expected, and the biggest number in four years. The U.S. needs to create 130,000 to 150,000 jobs each month just to absorb population growth, but over the last eight months the average number actually created was only about 95,000.
Along with strong demand, benign weather helped to add 71,000 jobs in construction. Health care and social assistance added 36,000 jobs.
Only one big sector experienced no growth: manufacturing. But considering the heavy losses in manufacturing jobs over the past two years, flat was regarded as a bullish sign.>>
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