The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators hit its highest level ever in March 2010, increasing by 1.4% over the previous month, according to a story in the April 19, 2010, Wall Street Journal. A "Heard on the Street" item in the following day's edition reports a cautiously optimistic response to the record-setting numbers:

Seeing isn't always believing. For a sign of how deep the scars from the credit crunch are, look no further than the Conference Board's latest index of leading indicators.

On Monday, the New York-based consultancy reported that its 50-year-old index jumped 1.4% in March, to a high of 109.6. Comprised of 10 components such as the yield curve and weekly jobless claims, it was a good predictor of the economy's plunge into recession, and has so far done a good job calling the turn.

However, despite recording a 10.4% annualized gain over the past six months, one of the strongest showings since the series began in 1959, even the in-house economists refuse to get carried away. Says one of the group's economists, Ken Goldstein, in a statement accompanying the hockey stick chart: "The indicators point to a slow recovery that should continue over the next few months."