As the Department of Commerce Reports:
Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and
services produced by labor and property located in the United States --
decreased at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 (that
is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to the
"advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.1
percent.
This is hardly anything to cheer about. One wonders what keeps stocks afloat?