It might be hard to believe right now, but we here in North Carolina might be leading indicators for the US economy.  Just as we started feeling the brunt of the recession before most of the rest of the country we might also be the first to feel the 'bottom' and see a recovery.  This occurred to me when I read that foreclosures in February were down almost 50% compared to February of last year in North Carolina, but the rest of the country experienced a 30% increase in foreclosures.  Yeah, yeah this is just one indicator and it's surrounded by other negative stories like the sales of existing homes in Greensboro falling 38% in February, but since foreclosures were a key factor in the start of our economic collapse it would seem that a decline in foreclosures would be a good sign that the bottom might be near.