  As of yesterday (8/17/04) there were three positive: 1. Labor Dept. 's consumer price index (broadest measure of prices paid by consumers) reported a 0.1% decline in prices for the month of July, down from a 0.3% increase in June and off of a predicted 0.2% increase from economists at Breifing.com - mainly fueled by cheaper then expected energy costs 2. Industrial production rose 0.4% in the month of July, the Fed reported, raising capacity utilization to 77.1%. Factory production rose 0.6 percent in July after June's 0.2 percent drop, and factories operated at 76.3 percent of full capacity, their fastest pace since 76.6 percent in April 2001.
3. The Conference Board's reading on consumer confidence posted a stronger then expected gain in July, reporting an index rating of 106.1, up from a 102.8 reading in June. This is the fourth straight month of gains, and it is at its highest level since June of 2002. This has been fueled by the expectation of more employment opportunities in the U.S. market, and is important as consumer spending accounts for more then two thirds of our GDP. 
