More strong recovery signs

Our list of positives is growing and Thursday saw some extremely positive recovery signs.

1. We have now had strong retail reports for both Jan and Feb this year. The Feb growth number was actually flat, but much stronger than many had feared. Feb retail sales are typically the most weak month of the year. Further the Jan number was revised upward, meaning the Jan growth was actually stronger than originally reported.

2. Late on Thursday,deputy central bank governor Su Ning said: "We expect China's
economy can see a substantial recovery in the second half of this year." That is no doubt great news for the world economy.

3. Struggling automaker GM, told Washington that it will no longer require a planned $2B loan from the government. Instead it told reporters that its restructuring plans are working to reduce it's burn rate significantly.

4. Bank of America CEO's said he did not expect BOA to need additional financial help from the government. Further he said that banks are not in "nearly as dire shape as some would have us believe." They follow positive comments from two other large banks: Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase.

And you will enjoy these quotes from several Thursday financial news stories:

"How all this turned around in a week, I don't know," said Scott Bleier, president of CreateCapital Advisors. "But it's certainly a better outlook than how it looked two weeks ago."

"We might find that the banks are not as bad, or not bad at all, if these assets are marked differently," said Doreen Mogavero, president of the New York's Mogavero, Lee & Co.

"There's a lot of money on the sidelines, and a lot of people who've been waiting for the turn to come," Mogavero said. "I think that probably, people will want to get some of their money in the market."