[fintstone]

Originally Posted by cabmando

What happens tomorrow will go a long way toward telling us when.

This. While usually economic cycles are largely not politically driven, the long, drawn out pain recovering from the last recession was and the recent boom has been...because in both cases, leaders specifically targeted business to fundamentally change the nation. (rightly or wrongly depending on your social politics). Incredibly poor (or good) leadership in Washington does indeed have an impact. The opening up of more U.S. oil and gas drilling will help keep the momentum up for quite a while if we can get a handle on debt...as the interest is devastating and will be worse as rates go up. Closing the borders and cutting entitlements seems the only way to significantly reduce spending. Once again...it depends on political will (of whomever wins the House and their constituency).

Right now, my bet is that we are in a slight pause (economically) that will continue upward in Nov...unless a significant event changes the trajectory.