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I have good news!

With gloomy economic news getting most of the attention these days, I thought I'd brighten things up going into the weekend with a list of recent "good news" stories you may have missed:

    "? Pending home sales rise

The National Association of Realtors reports pending home sales increased during December by 6.3 percent.... The South and Midwest posted big gains in pending sales.... The Pending Home Sales Index is a major indicator for the housing sector.

    "? Geico to hire 870 in first quarter

Geico Corp. said it plans to hire 870 new associates in 19 states in the first quarter of 2009.... Geico is currently looking to add customer service, claims, sales, and auto damage adjuster positions to the company's regional offices and service centers.

    "? Evidence points to recession's end by July

Economists Nicholas Bloom and Max Floetotto of Stanford University say that "based on the analysis of 16 previous economic shocks... and using the latest data on uncertainty measures, our model predicts that the worst has been avoided.... [W]e believe growth will resume by mid-2009."

    "? Kellogg reports 7% increase in profit

Kellogg said Thursday its profit rose 7% during the fourth quarter.... Revenue increased 5% to $2.93 billion.

    "? Silicon Valley has a few rare bright spots

Executive recruiters in Silicon Valley, and the tech business in general, see glimmers of hope in some areas of technology. "It's not all doom and gloom," said Robert Greene, founder and CEO of GreeneSearch, Inc. in San Mateo, about 20 minutes north of Silicon Valley.... "Overall, hiring for engineers and product managers remains pretty strong."

    "? Wal-Mart U.S. same-store sales up 2.1%

Wal-Mart Corp. said Thursday that January same-store sales... rose 2.1%, ahead of the target of 1.1% in a Thomson Reuters survey. January total world sales for the company rose 1.8%.

    "? Panera Bread Co. expects to open many stores in 2009

Panera Bread Co., the chain of 1,250 bakery-cafes, plans to take advantage of its debt-free balance sheet and the U.S. real estate slump to open as many as two locations a week in 2009, said Chief Executive Ronald Shaich.... "A recession is a time to develop if you have the balance sheet to do it, and we do," Shaich said. "There will be opportunities."

H/T for some of these to PositiveEconomicNews.com.

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