Rove/gray hair comment: think politics. think campaign to re-elect.

one-month's LI surprise comment: specifically says "no disaster".

And clarification of leading indicator: these are a set of statistics that are averaged together (wieghting of factors is admittedly arcane) to produce a number. This number is designed to give a clue where the economy is headed. A falling indicator predicts a falling economy in the future. Hence the gray hair statement. If the economy should drop, it will be very hard to win the election.

I'm not saying the economy will drop (I personally predict a rise). I am saying that dropping indicators are a concern to politicians.