Hmmm. Some early indications of a slowdown are out there in certain commodity markets. Purchasing people getting conservative and skittish with forecasts. When buyers revise their projections downward or say that they’ll ride on their inventory for a while longer, you can bet that rougher sledding is ahead. Just a question of magnitude.
The signs come a day after Bernanke suggested that a slowdown was possible. Cause? Effect? Hard to say.
The picture will begin to resolve over the next few months. The first quarter of the year often sets the pace for the year in markets that I’m familiar with. The chemical manufacturing market is so global and the dollar is so low that it is hard to determine if some of the latest conservative buying behavior is an actual indicator or not of business slowdown. Hmmm.
Lamentations on Chemistry 
hard facts always lag behind the market.
tax revenue is even further behind.
Mi will still be arguing over how to solve its current budget woes when the economics resolves the problem on its own.
Medicine is the fine art of entertaining the patient as the body heals itself. Perhaps one can say the same of politics.
Good observations.
thanks for the GREAT post! Very useful…