US double dip unlikely

Equity prices have been helped in recent weeks by continued strong corporate earnings. The current quarter has been one of the strongest in recent years. Analyst forecasts for the remainder of 2010 have been moving up as well, although expectations for 2011 have fallen slightly. On the economic front, the most important data recently was the July employment report. The headline numbers were disappointing, as the US shed jobs last month, largely as a result of the loss of temporary census workers. Additionally, private sector payrolls advanced by a less-than-expected 71,000 jobs. Th...