You know how weather forecasters always hedge their bets with phrases like, "Tomorrow's forecast is decidedly mixed" which, to me, is like saying "You may or may not wake up tomorrow."  Anyway, all the recent economic news has me thinking that our economic forecast is, well, decidedly mixed.  In bullet point fashion:

• Stock market – The markets have rebounded nicely from the beginning of the "Great Recession," yet the little "1,000 point drop in a blink of the eye" moment we had a few days back has everyone as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
• Employment – Lots of hiring going on, but even more people are looking for jobs.
• Housing – The recently ended stimulus for home buyers seemed to goose the market, but foreclosures are up over last year (at least here in NC).
• Banks/Financial Services – There's (mostly empty) talk of reforming the industry so that "too big to fail" doesn't recur, and then we find out that banks are making butt-loads of money doing some things that are highly improbable, if not impossible.  

Yep.  All in all I'd say our economic outlook is decidedly mixed, and I'll even go out on a limb and say that the markets will close either up or down tomorrow.  Tomorrow I'll tell you why the winner of the 2011 Super Bowl will most likely be a team that plays in the NFL.