American Express Income Growth

 From the Street.com:

American Express's fourth-quarter net income soared 48% to $1.1 billion and earnings per share rose 47% to 88 cents, including $133 million of restructuring and other one-time charges. Revenue increased 13%. Credit quality continued to improve. Provisions for losses dropped from $748 million in the year-earlier quarter to just $239 million in the latest period.

More signs that underlying financial conditions are improving. Speaking of which, another quick way to see how we are doing is to pull up some individual homes on Zillow.com and see the little price charts that indicate the value of a home going back a few years.  The drops have been huge (here in Phoenix), but it would seem that prices have kind of rested on the bed, waiting for morning. That's a plus.