Is the U.S. economy in a recession or not? Check the "official" opinion at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) at www.nber.org/data. Link to the Official Business Cycle Dates.

In your main post copy and paste each question/statement and answer below:

1. How does the NBER select the beginning or end of a recession?

2. What period in U.S. economic history was the longest expansion? Contraction? Describe the events taking place during each of these cycles.

3. Look at the Announcement Dates section toward the bottom of the page. How much of a time lag is there between when a peak or a trough occurs and when it is announced?

4. What implication does this have for investors?

5. Find one fund that has a contrarian philosophy and analyze its performance and explain how it took advantage of the economic cycles.

Responses to the 5 questions/statements must total a minimum of 500 words.  Use at least 3 sources with APA format.  One of the 3 sources is provided below.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). (n.d.). US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from http://www.nber.org/cycles/cyclesmain.html