Reasons to be Cheerful - Part 1

'Tis a brave man indeed that calls the bottom of the market.

Surfing through the week's headlines we have seen:

Rate of decline in UK commercial property values slowing

Construction activity rises to a 7 month high

Battle for mortgage business begins

Economists say green shoots are visible

Services and retailing lift hopes that worst of recession is over

Add to this that base rate has been held at 0.5% for a second month, the FTSE100 is up 21% since the start of the year and RBS has managed to only lose £897m in the last 3 months (bonuses all round), it would be a glass-half-empty reaction indeed not to feel the smallest glimmer of hope.

Of course, it's not all good news:

Haulage business down 12%

Toyota records record loss and predicts worse to come

A lot of this so called 'good news' is based on slowing rates of decline rather than a return to growth, but could we at least say that we are bumping along a rather stony bottom?

Like many of the small businesses that we meet, we are not experiencing a catastrophic downturn. The decision making process remains protracted, but the enormous fear that has prevailed since last October is subsiding.

'Tis a brave man indeed that calls the bottom of the market.

Let's do business.