Boat Sales (Not Sails) Are Up; The Economy Must Be Doing Fine After All

I was scanning thru Crain's New York Business online this morning and saw one encouraging article and one potentially encouraging article. The first - Venture Capital Cash Loosens Up in 4Q - says that according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association report, funding for the New York metropolitan area's startup firms rose to $466.1 million in the fourth quarter, up about 0.6% from the fourth quarter of 2008. That's an increase of 80% from the third quarter of 2009, when the area's venture capital funding came in under $260 million. Good news.

Even more encouraging, I originally thought, is this story titled "Boat Show attendance up as deals abound." If people are buying boats, consumer confidence must really be on the upswing. But than I read the sub-headline: "Sellers offering cheap financing are attracting first-time buyers." This sent my positive feelings down a few pegs. When I see the words "cheap financing" and "first time buyers," I get a little worried now-a-days. So either we are on the road, or the waterway, to recovery, or we have learned nothing from the events of the past few years.