All of this explains why poll after poll shows Republicans fired up and ready to go in November, and Democrats thinking they are walking their own slow walk to the execution chamber.
This put the NYSE, where prices tend to be good but execution is usually slow, on notice that it had to upgrade its electronic capability at once in order to speed up trades.
At the crossroads of the battered housing market and below-trend levels of consumer spending, it will come down to execution for the home-improvement retailers as housing rises off the bottom and the economy continues its slow rebound.