Even the Fed is Happy

Fed Reports Improvements in U.S. Economy

A U.S. economic revival gained strength in October and early November with "broadly based" improvements, the Federal Reserve said in its most optimistic assessment of business conditions in some time.

The central bank said Wednesday that in most parts of the country, sales were up and retailers were optimistic about the upcoming holidays. Not only that, residential housing continued to boom, it said, and even the nation's beleaguered factories were seeing promising signs of a rebound at long last.