If I Could Turn Back Time, doo-doo, doo-doo

The lyrics to Cher's 1989 hit If I Could Turn Back Time are appropriate for this odd period of economic reporting we find ourselves now in - when pre-credit crunch data mixes in with the more recent stuff, none of which seems to be any good.

As if she ran a hedge fund or a big Wall Street bank and saw the future eighteen years ago then addressed her post-credit crunch subprime lover:

My world was shattered I was torn apart
Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart
You walked out that door I swore that I didn't care
But I lost everything darling then and there

Here's the latest evidence of how good things used to be:

Economic growth was at juggernaut levels just a few months ago - for more on third quarter GDP, see this report from Bloomberg.

But like existing home sales yesterday, there is more bad news on housing today:

New home sales continue at depressed levels - pay no attention to the month-to-month increase as revisions to last month's data were huge. There seems to be no let up in sight - for more on new home sales, see this story at Bloomberg.

Oh yeah, jobless claims are spiking higher too:
A clear trend in the post-credit crunch labor market may be confirmed in next week's employment report - for more on initial jobless claims, see this report at Econoday.

Go ahead, just play it.