I generally don’t put a lot of stock into revisions of previously published data. One of the reasons is that there is so much new information being released every day that it’s impossible to keep up while still trying to make this column mildly interesting, and the second is that with a number like GDP, it’s impossible to be absolutely accurate–even after a half dozen updates. Today’s second reading of the second quarter Gross Domestic Product came in at 3.7 though, which is significantly higher than the first reading of 2.3, and is cause for alarm among the Chicken Littles who claim that not only the sky, but the bottom as well is falling. I am not saying that it is or isn’t, just that the surge in growth proclaimed by the above graph is affecting the markets. Today, the jovial atmosphere is pushing the prices of both stocks and bonds upward.
