Recession Not Yet Over, Investors Say
(Recession poll results updated with latest on Caterpillar stock and its recent share price movement.)
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As the country's economists continue to debate whether the recession has in fact ended, we turned to our own panels of economic experts: the readers of the TheStreet.
Members of the National Bureau of Economic Research, after a meeting on April 8, decided to forego certifying a "trough date" for the recession that technically began in December 2007. So we took the question to
TheStreet
, asking
Do you think the recession is over?"
The overwhelming majority, or 73.7%, of readers answered with a resounding "no"; the remaining 26.3% answered, "yes."
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Macroeconomic data would tend to support those results. Still, not all agree. "Simple things tell the truth," Jim Cramer wrote in
his RealMoney column on April 23,
naming several stocks that represent growing evidence of a market recovery.
"
Sears
(SHLD)
, which is universally reviled, is doing well," Cramer pointed out. "Of course, we then chalk that up to some government program."
Cramer chalks it up to an "amazing tide that can't help but lift all boats."
He continued, writing that you don't get "all of these ancillary housing plays like
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roaring" if the economy is still asleep.
In yet another positive indicator for worldwide economic recovery,
Caterpillar
(CAT) - Get Caterpillar Inc. Report
on Monday said that it has
on optimism driven by robust growth in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American economies, and continued improvement in global mining and energy markets.
Caterpillar is increasing its full-year outlook to $2.50 to $3.25 a share on revenue of $38 billion to $42 billion, compared with the consensus estimate of $2.69 on revenue of $37 billion.
Caterpillar stock has risen 5.3% to $72.39 Monday morning.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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