The Baylor Bears are definitely getting better

The indexes are updated throughout the year, butonly for the previous six months. As a result, therevised indexes will no longer be directly comparable to those issued prior tothe benchmark revision. For more information, please visit our website at http:// or contact us U.S. The yield spreadalso contributed positively to the index, helping offset the continueddeclines in building permits, the average workweek, supplierdeliveries,and initial unemployment claims. The six-month change in the CEIhas continued to decline to -2.2 percent (a -4.3 percent annualrate)in the period through December, down significantly from -0.7 percent(a-1.3 percent annual rate) from December 2007 to June 2008, and theweaknesses among its components have remained widespread in recentmonths. The CEI has been deteriorating since its mostrecent peak in November 2007, and the decrease in this index over thepast six months is the largest since 1980. Taken together, the recentbehavior of the composite economic indexes suggests that the recessionthat began in December 2007 will continue in the near term.LEADING INDICATORS.Four of the ten indicators that make up the leadingeconomic index increased in December.The positive contributors beginningwith the largest positive contributor were real money supply, interestrate spread, manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials andmanufacturers' new orders for nondefense capital goods.The negativecontributors beginning with the largest negative contributor werebuilding permits, average weekly manufacturing hours, index of supplierdeliveries (vendor performance), average weekly initial claims forunemployment insurance (inverted), and stock prices.

Personal income lesstransfer payments held steady in December.The coincident economic index now stands at 104.1 (2004100).This indexdecreased 0.3 percent in November and increased 0.3 percent in October. During the six-month period through December, the coincident economic indexdecreased 2.2 percent, with one out of four components advancing (diffusionindex, six-month span equals 25 percent).LAGGING INDICATORS.The lagging economic index stands at 113.3 (2004100) inDecember, with one of the seven components advancing.The positivecontributor to the index was the ratio of consumer installment credit topersonal income.The negative contributors beginning with the largestnegative contributor were change in CPI for services, average duration ofunemployment (inverted), average prime rate charged by banks, change in laborcost per unit of output, commercial and industrial loans outstanding, andratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales. Based on revised data,the lagging economic index remained unchanged in November and increased 0.1percent in October.DATA AVAILABILITY AND NOTES.The data series used by The Conference Board to compute The Conference BoardLeading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S., The Conference Board CoincidentEconomic Index (CEI) for the U.S., and The Conference Board Lagging EconomicIndex (LAG) for the U.S., and reported in the tables in this release are thoseavailable "as of" 12 Noon on January 23, 2009. Leading Economic Index.The next release is scheduled for February 19, Thursday at 10 A.M. ET.SOURCEThe Conference BoardProfessional Contacts at The Conference Board:Ken Goldstein,1-212-339-0331, Indicators Program, 1-212-339-0330,; Media: Frank Tortorici, 1-212-339-0231, orCarol Courter, 1-212-339-0232. The Baylor Bears are definitely getting better.But its going to take a whole lot to defeat the highly touted and 19th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.Unfortunately for the Bears, Baylor (3-2, 0-1) came up short on the road in their Big 12 opener, falling 33-7 to the Sooners (3-2, 1-0).As far as the fourth quarter goes, it was extremely disappointing, Baylor Head Coach Art Briles said. You know, because I really thought that our guys played tonight with a tremendous amount of effort, confidence and belief.

And quite honestly we didnt do a very good job offensively the second half maintaining any type of rhythm. But with what they the Baylor defense had, they did a great job in what we gave them and we have to execute better.Defensively, the Bears played greatdespite numerous penalties in the red zone.I think as a defense we came out and stopped the run early and then we just hurt ourselves with penalties and you know there is some unfortunate field position there with those penalties and special teams, Baylor senior linebacker Joe Pawelek said As a defense, I think you just have to overcome that. We had a lot of situations that werent favorable to us but we were able to hold them to a bunch of field goals and Im really proud of the way our defense responded today. We fought and fought and fought to the very end and Im proud of us.Leading the way in the receiving department for the Bears were Ernest Smith (six catches for 71 yards), Lanear Sampson (four catches for 13 yards), and David Gettis (three catches for 53 yards).Another positive aspect of the game for the Bears was their fourth-down efficiency, as Baylor went two-of-three on fourth-down conversions against Oklahoma.Baylor senior quarterback Blake Szymanski, who sat out last week in the Bears victory over Kent State, played the final offensive series after replacing Florencegoing one-of-two for 42 yards with one interception.Regardless of dropping their conference opener to Oklahoma, Briles feels Baylor is on the right track this season.Of course theres room for improvement, Briles said We knew today would be a measuring stick.