How To Turn The US Economy Around Short-term

Four Things That Must Happen to Turn the U.S. Economy Around
So what will it take for things to improve and turn around in America? It will take many factors working at once. Let me go through several of the most important ones.
Housing Market Needs to Stop Declining. In short, housing must improve. When will this happen? Housing stocks usually recover many months before the actual housing market does. That's because the stock market likes to price in what traders think will happen in the next six months. So when these stocks turn up, (as shown in this housing ETF graph below), then we may be only be months away from a housing turnaround that will benefit the economy. So look for the downtrend line to break as a starting condition for the economy to recover.
Oil Prices Must Continue to Fall. High oil is like a tax on the consumer. There are a lot of things you have the choice of buying or not buying...gasoline for your car is not one of them. So as the price of oil and gas go down, this will put more money back into the consumer's pocket. That will do more good than what will come out of Washington, D.C.
Interest Rates Need to Be Slashed Further. As interest rates drop, credit becomes cheaper. So loans for consumers and corporate America cost less. Therefore the consumer and corporate America can get back into "growth" mode. As corporations can borrow to expand more cheaply, then things will look up again. That will take care of the unemployment problem in time. Earnings typically pick up first and then additional hiring follows afterwards. So there will be a delay at first...but be patient. At least you'll see the "light at the end of the tunnel" as corporate earnings improve.
Finally, We Need a Vote of Confidence from Consumers. We'll see this when they spend. So watch the U.S. retail sales numbers. We won't have an economic recovery without the consumer being involved. So watch for the Retail Index (RLX) to pick up. Again, many times...these indices will precede what we see in the economy. However, that's a good thing because it gives you a heads up. So once you see these things improve, wait a few months and then start tip toeing back into the stock market and into high yielding currencies.
In the meantime, beaten down assets and defensive assets will remain supreme.