ConvergEx Group chief market strategist Nick Colas says the rise in sales of pickup trucks in the U.S. is one of the most important charts of the year.
"Demand for these vehicles is as pure a measure of actual (rather than reported) small business confidence as you are likely to find," says Colas. "We're not back to the 2007 highs in terms of demand, but this small slice of the automotive market shows that the U.S. economy is solidly on the mend."
The charts below show what Colas is talking about.