Double-Dip Recession Fears Creep Back Into the Market

A miserable week of economic news has rekindled a big question in the market: Is the economy headed for a double-dip recession?

Thursday's economic reports only fanned the flames: Weekly jobless claims jumped despite projections they would start easing, and orders for long-lasting goods excluding airplanes dropped 0.6 percent instead of the projected 1 percent increase, suggesting waning consumer demand.

Those numbers followed reports earlier this week of a plunge in consumer confidence and the even more closely watched home sales, as well as a report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp showing bank lending at its lowest levels in nearly 70 years.

"These numbers are not stabilizing," says Kathy Boyle, president of Chapin Hill Advisors in New York. "We're two-thirds of the way through the first quarter and the jobs numbers are worse...I just look at all the signs of these things and I don't see us getting out of this." Read more