By Evelina M. Tainer, Chief Economist, Econoday
11/23/01

It was a slow week for economic news as housing activity weakened modestly but still showed decent activity despite the lackluster economy. The international trade deficit on goods and services narrowed substantially, but this was due to a special factor that will not be repeated. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index inched up suggesting that consumers are starting to revive. The news was sufficient to continue to lift bond yields even though the U.S. probably remains in recession. Equity investors are more cheerful about the outlook for 2002 and managed to book some profits this week after running up the major indices last week.