By Evelina M. Tainer, Chief Economist, Econoday
April 18, 2003

Housing starts picked up steam again in March, but manufacturing activity remained in the doldrums. Consumer inflation didn't spike much in March and is still not a threat. Equity markets saw some positive earnings news and this helped to bolster prices.

The war may be over but the troops are still in Iraq and we are likely to see skirmishes as a peacekeeping force is put into place. In the meantime, the troops need to figure out how to stop the looting. This past week Iraqi looters stormed the central bank, but came out with now worthless dinars.