Sage Advice Quarterly Market Review 1Q2007

It’s not the first time that the economy has failed to follow the script written for it by the prognosticators and, for sure, it won’t be the last. Recall that just a few short months ago, the general consensus was that the economy would close out 2006 on gimpy legs and limp into 2007 saddled with some heavy burdens. Households faced costly heating bills, squeezing budgets already pinched by lagging income gains and high debt burdens; companies were ratcheting down hiring plans in response to a midyear slowdown in growth; and the upsurge of sectarian violence made the Iraq quagmire seem as intractable as ever, heightening the anxiety level of a restive American public. Then, of course, there’s the housing correction, which is still ongoing and arguably represents the biggest threat overhanging the economy.