New York Times, Feb 28 '07:
"The nation’s manufacturing sector managed to slip into a recession with almost nobody seeming to notice. Well, until yesterday.
"Wall Street was caught off guard when the Commerce Department reported yesterday morning that orders for durable goods — big items like home computers and factory machines — plunged almost 8 percent last month. That’s a big number, but it really shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. ...this time, the manufacturing downturn stems from a couple of larger economic problems. One, of course, is the housing slump...
"Is it possible that we’re headed for a real recession?
"For months now, the economy seemed to shrug off the forces weighing on it and just kept on growing. But those forces never went away. If anything, a number of them have gotten stronger... interest rates... financial sector... inflation... the economy is facing bigger
risks than we imagined just a few weeks ago."
That "R" word again. It seems all the bulls have turned to bears in the last month.