The good news from Wall Street and Main Street

On Friday, the S&P 500 index reached a four-year high. And the Dow Jones industrials gained 1.83 percent on the week. Stocks rise and fall for various reasons, but last week’s gains seem to have been a reaction to unambiguously positive economic news. The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index, which measures inflation in wholesale prices, was flat in June. Industrial production rose by 0.9 percent, the biggest increase in 14 months. Business inventories rose by only 0.1 percent, indicating that sales are brisk. All of this according to an AP report in the Washington Times.
When the Democrats are in power, the media tends to trumpet good news like this. These days, however, one usually has to go looking for it.