The market chatter has been going on and on about a double dip for months now. So just to play devil's advocate, I thought I'd look for basic economic evidence that says OTHERWISE.

First up, the US consumer. In the following chart that shows weekly chain store sales in the US, there is no conclusive signs of weakness. In fact, the sales levels are at all time highs, significantly above pre-Lehman crisis levels. The data is very current, the latest point being for the week ended 17 July, 2010.

David Fuller's view It will only take a couple of minutes to read and comprehend the graphs of fundamental data in this concise report. I think Bernard Tan has also identified the main reason for US irrational pessimism.