While gas is down 25% since the summer, the pump price remains high by recent standards, and the Consumer Confidence Index has wobbled down since spring.
The baked bean index - my colleague Anthony Reuben noted in the spring how the value of sales of baked beans - a classic recession food - had risen 21.6% in April compared with the same month last year.
The iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Plus Capped Index Fund (REZ) has doubled in value since the spring of 2009, despite historically high rates of foreclosures and short sales.
Dollar bulls took the reins since May, pushing the greenback up 10% from spring lows, but with the U.S. dollar index up only about 1% from the end of 2010 the key will be how to keep the drive on track in 2012.
Emerging markets often spring such surprises, but the Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Asia Index is up 18% in the year to date, following four consecutive annual increases.