Last week we heard some encouraging economic words in the form of PPI, November housing starts and building permits, and CPI, followed by the Federal Reserve proclaiming that inflation hadn’t yet reared its ugly head and at the end of the week, more good news with a healthy report on leading economic indicators.
While he spoke before those numbers were released, James Swanson, chief investment strategist for MFS Investment Management, said at the annual MFS Investment Outlook briefing that “the world economy, stoked by massive world-wide stimulus programs, is experiencing its most synchronized recovery in almost 40 years.”
It now appears certain that 2010 will be a good year to die, as the House version of an estate tax extension failed to gain any traction in the Senate as the January 1 deadline approached under which the so-called death tax will go to zero for one year before reverting to pre-Bush Administration levels.