[Jayhawk]

I know that will disappoint many "bears" here, but it is a fact according to advance estimates released January 30 by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real GDP increased 2.2 percent in 2007 compared with an increase of 2.9 percent in 2006. Real gross domestic product – the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States – increased at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.9 percent. Though the economy is slowing, as has been widely predicted, it is still growing; and that means a recession is not "in the works," as our Chicken Little's keep stating--incorrectly. Since GDP has to actually decrease for two consecutive quarters (six months in a row) in order to say we are in recession, we are NOT NOW nor are we likely to be for the foreseeable future in a recession. I just hope the bear's among us will dial it down and give us all a break for the next six months--though I won't hold my breath for that to happen.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.6% in fourth quarter