We are often asked our crystal ball view of where we think we are in the market cycle and where we are headed. Well, 2014 hardly could have started worse, with a brutal and seemingly never-ending winter bringing activity to a halt and keeping shoppers at home in much of the country. The final first quarter estimate told the story, with real gross domestic product (GDP) contracting a much worse-than-expected 2.1%. But there’s a reason the equity market shook off that number. It was after all, so yesterday. What today and the rest of the year look like are much different, as manufacturing an
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