US GDP up 5.7% in Q4 2009 – Is this the Beginning of the Recovery??

Who knows for sure. But I have to tell you, the real estate world had a lot to do with that jump. Investors, first time home buyers and move up buyers bought homes last year at record levels. Most, nearly 60%, were Foreclosure homes and then a big chunk were short sales. Most of those homes needed to be painted, carpeted, new landscaping, new appliances and more. Those buyers were investing big time to make those homes livable. This is one of the big reasons the $8,000 tax credit is helping. Most first time home buyers would not buy these homes, but for the fact that credit gives them the money to fix them up.

US Economy Grows at Fastest Pace Since 2003

Terence Neilan

The Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in six years at the end of 2009.

Although consumer spending rose at a better-than-expected annualized rate of 2 percent, it was the replenishment of company stockpiles that proved the main factor, which can often point to just a temporary economic bump.

Figures for the fourth quarter showed an expansion in gross domestic product of 5.7 percent, following a 2.2 percent rise in the third. Together, they followed a record four quarters of decline.

It was the strongest evidence so far that the recession ended last year, but there has so far been no official confirmation.

The high unemployment rate, and its effect on future consumer spending, continues to hold down economists’ hopes.

“That’s why there’s so much hand-wringing right now,” the chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight, Brian Bethune, told The Associated Press. “Can the economy really sustain this? That’s the big question mark sitting out there.”

However, Bethune called it “a surprisingly good report,” noting a steep rise in exports and investment in equipment and computer software.

Similar remarks were made by John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economies.

“It was an excellent report,” he told The New York Times, “but it’s not clear how sustainable this pace of growth is. We need numbers like this for the next two years, and I just don’t think we can achieve that.”

Read the rest of the story:  http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/us-economy-report-sends-stocks-rising/19337508