The 1 percent annualized increase in gross domestic product, announced by the Commerce Department on Thursday, marked a slight improvement from the government's previous estimate of 0.9 percent growth for the January-to-March quarter. And, it showed the economy logging stronger growth than the feeble 0.6 percent pace registered in the final three months of last year.

And existing home sales were also up (slightly). Again, 2% is nothing to cheer about, but it's the second month in a row that sales are up.

The strength in sales reflected gains in all parts of the country except the South, where sales dropped by 0.5 percent. Sales were up 5.5 percent in the Midwest, 4.6 percent in the Northeast and 2 percent in the West.

Source: By Ideal Investment Corner http://idealinvestment.blogspot.com/