You Want Proof of an Economic Recovery?

Don't trust Whirlpool (WHR - commentary - Cramer's Take)? Don't trust the anecdotal evidence of a bottoming in economic activity? Then take a look at the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that came out today from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas:

"The decline in Texas manufacturing activity slowed in April," the survey said. "Although still negative, the business activity index -- the survey's broadest measure of state manufacturing trends -- saw improvement as the share of companies reporting better market conditions rose from March to April. The company outlook index strengthened, recovering the ground lost since September."

There. That's it. That's the real sign that the depression that began after the federally mandated collapse of Lehman Brothers is now over.

You can imagine what these numbers mean for the U.S. economy given how big Texas is for the nation. You can imagine everything from the technology industries to the oil industry showing recovery, as both are big in Texas, and you can assume it is a microcosm of the country given the tentacles of its industry.

I don't care what you buy off this survey, a Schlumberger (SLB - commentary - Cramer's Take), a Dell (DELL - commentary - Cramer's Take), an Exxon (XOM - commentary - Cramer's Take), or a Wal-Mart (WMT - commentary - Cramer's Take) or Best Buy (BBY - commentary - Cramer's Take) --restocking plays -- the point is we have genuine empirical evidence of a turn, and it couldn't be more spot-on than this survey.

Again, this is a reason to be more bullish even as people feel less bullish with each up week.

At the time of publication, Cramer was long Wal-Mart.

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