Economy Zips Ahead Faster Than Expected. In the first quarter of 2006, the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 5.6%, the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years. It was stronger than the previous estimate of 5.3%. Here is the AP story:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ECONOMY?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-06-29-08-45-40

The article points out that, in the current quarter, economic growth has probably slowed to a rate of 2.5 to 3 percent. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The bottom line: this is boom time. Don't believe the constant negativity that the media keeps feeding us about the economy.