I have to vent some frustration with the media and the market sentiment. It seems that every time a piece of news comes out that is less bad everyone cuddles it as though it’s a new born. Take the news today…. it came out that new housing starts were up nearly 17%. At first glance everyone is happy and excited that this number indicates improvement in the market. But at a closer glance most of this number was made up of builders who had to put on hold existing projects due to lack of funding or desire to complete. The government funding for first time home buyers ends in a few months and the builders need to complete existing projects so that the buyers can take advantage of this offer. So I ask you, is this positive news? Does this give an indication that the economy is recovering? It’s time to be real about what is going on around us. Less bad news is not good news…. its just less bad.