Jobs are ready to make a comeback!

As usual, it all comes back to the consumer. Consumer demand increased, and spending follows demand, of course, which provides the fuel necessary for economic growth. When enough of this fuel is expended, we'll finally see an increase in jobs -- and relief from what is soon to be double-digit unemployment.

For the first time since the start of the recession, more companies are planning to add positions rather than cut them in the next six months.

We've heard from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve and they say that our recession is ending. We have a 50% bounce in the stock market and we have loads of statistics pointing to a recovery, Now, however, we hear a different voice, one that is steeped in reality, that takes the pulse of business, that is on the front lines, in the trenches so to speak. Let's listen in:

The U.S. is still in a recession which may last until 2010 according to the Association for Financial Professionals. The poll was carried out on Monday and surveyed 1,000 chief financial officers and treasury executives. Here are their findings:

Was AT&T (NYSE: T) (Cramer's Take) misinterpreted when CEO Randall Stephenson spoke at the Citigroup Entertainment Conference? That was the one where the stock traded down horribly after Stephenson spoke about the consumer business.

I know I thought it wasn't.

I read the comments that he made, or at least read the quotes of them, and they seemed like a change at the margin that could bring numbers down and implied that the economic downturn is leading to fewer phone calls and fewer phone lines and fewer broadband lines. I didn't know any other way to read it.

Neither did the press, with many of the headlines from around the country reading that AT&T "warned" about the quarter. None of the buyside or sellside firms I spoke to or read seemed to believe that this was just plain vanilla. All that I spoke to -- and I spoke to a half dozen -- felt this was a change at the margin that would impact earnings.

Judging by the most recently available statistics from the American Association of Railroads, the trade and productivity numbers currently coming out of Washington appear to be a bunch of bunk. Will someone please tell Ben Bernanke that cold hard facts will supplant pipe dreams any day?

Rail freight numbers for the week ended June 9 continue to trend downward and are consistent with trending for the year so far. By now, industrial surpluses and inventories should have been reduced to the point that manufacturing would be demanding an increased influx of raw materials, but such is not the case. Plainly put, consumer demand and domestic manufacturing are down, and it shows plainly in reduced freight numbers. The breakdown for the week ending June 9 is as follows:

• Intermodal freight (truck trailers or shipping containers): Down 3.2 percent from last year.
• Carload freight (not including intermodal): Down 5.6 percent.
• 4.0 percent fewer carloads originated from the West and 7.8 percent fewer originated from the East.
• Total cumulative rail freight volume for the first 23 weeks of 2007 was an estimated 754.9 billion ton-miles, down 3.1 percent from last year.

Canadian and Mexican railroad reports show similar trending, though not as significantly as the American declines. The single remarkable exception is the Mexican railroad, Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM), which has reported intermodal volume of 4,878 trailers or containers, up 18.4 percent from the 23rd week of 2006. That significant increase, my friends, is reflective of manufactured goods they're shipping up to us.

Bear these numbers in mind the next time you get your statistical hogwash from Washington. They can tell you that more people are working and they can tell you that companies are manufacturing more stuff, but the true facts come out when the train cars get loaded (or don't).

The old Wall Street expression I have heard a million times, mostly in the negative camp is "the company has too many moving parts." Well, the same can be said about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), but only in the positive camp. So as Apple hit a new 52-week and all-time high of $119, what is going on? Let's look briefly at all the "moving parts."

Yesterday, it was announced that Apple stock will be included in the S&P 100 as of the end of trading today. It's definitely a prestigious move for Apple, and one the company did not have to request. S&P determines who the member companies will be. Many structured portfolios must buy the shares to keep up with the 100 stocks in the index. Typically these funds finish this chore within three days of the announcement. Apple traded 52 million shares on Wednesday, twice its normal amount.

Apple announced that its Apple TV will soon have the capability of offering the ever-popular YouTube internet video site on its Apple TV set-top box. This is another confirmation of the growing and consumer-driven philosophy at Apple. If the consumer wants it and the addressable market is large enough, Apple will offer it and probably dominate.