Huge Lead Story at Finance!Yahoo -- An AP Story -- Not a Bakken Story

This is the headline: "Fewer Jobless Claims Cap Strong Week for Economy."

You have got to be kidding.

Here's the lede:

A further decline in the number of people applying for unemployment benefits capped a strong week for the economy.

Factories are producing more, shoppers are spending more and business executives and consumers are more optimistic. The latest reports, along with a tax-cut plan that Congress is set to pass, are leading economists to predict 2011 will be better than first thought and that hiring will pick up.

So, what are these rosy scenarios based on?

Weekly claims for jobless aid dipped by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000 in the week ending Dec. 11, the Labor Department said Thursday.

You have got to be kidding.

And this was seasonally adjusted, meaning a "fudge factor" was used which affected the numbers. I doubt "they" picked a fudge factor to make the numbers even worse than they already are. But, hey, those 3,000 less claims are solid proof 2011 will be a better year. 

Thank goodness for the internet. And "they" call me inappropriately exuberant.

Update: same day, same hyperbole: Gold Prices Plummeting

In fact, gold prices dropped $20 while in the $1,370 range. That works out to 1.5 percent; that's hardly plummeting. That's called volatility.