Here are more encouraging signs that the economic recovery continues to gain strength.

Credit quality continues to improve and some indicators stand at two-year highs.

According to Standard & Poor's, the US speculative-grade default rate fell to 3.35 percent in mid-December, down from a peak of 11.4 percent hit in November 2009. In the US, 53 issuers defaulted through November, compared with 185 at the same time in 2009.

Here is yet another sign the economy is in better shape than the skeptics think it is...maybe.

Standard & Poor's said it expects the US corporate speculative-grade default rate to plummet to 2.8 percent for the 12-months ending June 2011. This is less than the current rate of 5.9 percent.