A number released this morning may indicate that the housing situation may be turning the corner. Specifically, construction of new homes soared by 22.2% in February, exceeding estimates by a large margin. Another number that was encouraging was that producer prices did not decline as much as expected, indicating that deflation may not be a problem after all. Of course, this does not indicate that everything is now fine and that the stock market will respond with a big rally. However, it is mildly encouraging.