Quality analysis about prior recessions, and when will this end?

I'm no financial expert. But I do work with a financial advising firm. Kenneth Smith, CEO of Empirical, has great, fact based insights that he shares with clients. When I feel anxiety, his analysis helps to calm me down (smile).

While the financial markets aren't a perfect proxy for good/bad news in recruiting, they certainly correlate. So I've grabbed a few things that I found interesting in his February letter to clients, and thought I'd share.

Timing of Recession and Market Recovery

1. The average recession length was around ten months with the longest recession lasting sixteen months and the shortest lasting six months. We are approaching fourteen months in the current recession. (JV: Remember, this recession officially started in Dec 2007)
   

2. The market bottomed and began to recover, on average, five months before the official recession end dates. It is reasonable to expect the market to begin to rebound prior to the end of the current recession as well.
   

So what? Well, I see this and wonder if we're hitting bottom now. If so, bring on the turnaround! If not, hurry up and get to the bottom.

Full article, with a great overview of past recession timing and turnarounds on the last page, here: http://www.successfulinvestingradio.com/file/ewm_recessions.pdf