• Look for good news in the U.S. economy this year and you wind up with numbers from the housing and auto-sales sectors. Cars and light trucks are at a pace last seen in 2007, and housing has not seen as much activity since the home-buyer tax credits of 2010.
• What economists wonder is how long the two sectors can keep growing if the rest of the apparently stagnant economy does not take the hint and get rolling.
• It appears that both benefited from a Federal Reserve effort to ease credit – usually needed for both purchases – but it is unclear that an expected new round of Fed actions have much room to help without a broader recovery.

From the article:

The U.S. economy has been rather dreary this year, but automobile sales and the housing market have been two brighter spots. ...