Are we in a Recession in the US?

Are we in a recession now?  The stock market in the US is being hammered.. .. and it is no longer a “correction“!!

INVESTORS MAY FINALLY BE GETTING PAST the denial stage that the stock market is going through just another “midcycle” correction. From the continuing barrage of bad economic news to the simple technical fact that the market’s trend is down, significant damage is being done. And it will take quite a bit of time to repair that damage before we can even think of getting back to the highs of last autumn.

…. and the CEOs confidence is at a 7 year low now:

Chief executives’ confidence in the U.S. economy has dropped to a seven-year low.  According to the latest survey of CEOs conducted by the Conference Board, inflation concerns and credit market uncertainties have chief executives predicting that it will be tough to maintain profitability for the first half of the year.

Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, said the credit crunch and increases in energy prices, along with the recent big write-offs by the nation’s largest banks, have spooked CEOs.

Indeed, the board’s measure of CEO confidence fell to 39 in the fourth quarter of 2007, down from 44 in the third quarter. The last time the index fell below 40 was in the final quarter of 2000, back when the U.S. was entering recession. A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses.