[mcbear]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

You say "...that number comes at the expense of a strangled, weak dollar ... and much higher Energy and Food prices across the board..." I say it came in spite of them, which just goes to show how strong and dynamic our economy really is.

I think you misunderstand.

The weak dollar allows exports to grow as US products can sell better in foreign markets. That is good for companies that EXPORT, bad for everyone that IMPORTS. Since we run a consistent Trade Deficit you can see that it hurts more people than it helps BUT in the case of Q1 sales, folks like Boeing and IBM did well as they moved product with the help of the weak dollar.

The Higher Energy and Food costs boosted the economy by shear rise in prices, churning more revenue, hence more profits for folks like Kraft and Exxon and the chain that drives them. So it is not "in spite" of them but because of them that those sectors were green instead of red. Again, good for Exxon and Kraft but bad for the 300 Million that are not stockholders or management and just have to pay 250% inflation in Energy prices.