Neptune's Wintle on the US

While the outlook for the market remains uncertain, the US recovery is showing clear signs of progression.

Economic data continues to show sequential improvement across all sectors. Retail sales have improved and are racing ahead of expectations, industrial production is recovering and there are signs employment is starting to trend in the right direction. Government policy also remains accommodative thanks to both loose monetary policy and an expansionary fiscal policy; 70% of the $787bn stimulus fund has not yet been spent. In fact, the US looks best positioned out of the OECD economies. The GDP data for Q4 2009 was 5.9%, which far outpaces Japan, Europe and the UK. Improved economic data h...