The Big Picture

The Conference Board - the same people who bring you the monthly consumer confidence reports - also put together an index of leading indicators to assess where the economy is headed overall. The measure for March was up a solid 1.4 percent, marking the 12th straight month that the figure has risen.

Here are the components of the index that were positive for March:

* The interest rate spread

* Average weekly manufacturing hours

* Supplier deliveries

* Stock prices

* Building permits

* Weekly first-time unemployment claims

* Manufacturers' orders for goods and materials

In contrast, the following leading indicators were negative in March:

* The money supply

* Manufacturers' orders for nondefense capital goods

* Consumer expectations