A Confused State - Part 2

So the other day I talked about how I was just in a confused state as to where the economy was going. I guess I should have waited a couple more days because, wow, things are far more clear now.

Let's recap the past few days..
-Futures rose on Tues/Wed, Fell on Thursday and Gold is back up again this morning on speculation of a weak dollar.
-GDP reports were released showing growth at a pace of 4.9%, the highest in 4 years.
-November mortgage foreclosures showed a 68% increase over the prior year, same period. However they decreased 10% over October 2007 figures (a variance of 8% is considered material).
-Jobless claims rose by 12k up to 346k
-The Dow closed down about 170+ points Monday but are now up 179 points (as of noon today).
-Consumer spending is up 1.1% (or 0.5% reduced for inflation) for November compared to last year. The highest annual increase in 3 1/2 years. Early speculative reports for December do not show the trend is going to continue.
-Savings figures reported negative growth for the first time in 15 months, meaning in order to achieve that aforementioned growth consumers spent more then they earned and dipped into their savings to do so. Which I suppose is better then racking up debt on your credit card.
-More economists are throwing the R word around (recession) but then...
-Merrill Lynch announces a potential $5 Billion cash infusion from an Asian investment agency. This move shows the foreign investors have confidence in our system.

So what does all this mean? I don't know. I still hold to what I said before about how we'll need to see how consumers respond this Christmas season. If the November spending increase continues through December it could bode well. Remember what President Bush said after the 9/11 attacks in regards to fears of a continued economic downturn, he urged people to go back out and tend to business as usual. To head back out to the malls and spend as usual. Some credit that sign of consumer confidence as a key reason the economy rebounded as well as it did.