The main US equity index, the S&P500 index of leading US companies, rose above 1,900 for the first time ever. The first quarter earnings season was good with 70% of companies beating their earnings forecasts. The gloss was taken off by only average sales performance which tells us that company CEOs may be limiting employee pay and possibly using the money to buy back shares – a popular strategy to boost profitability ratios. With unemployment falling, this is turning from a jobless recovery to an incomeless recovery. An improvement in average hourly earnings would confirm that that this lift off is genuine. But the equity market seems in no mood to hang about to wait for the facts.