Oil prices are high and, by all accounts, likely to remain so for some time, although the long term picture seems to suggest prices will back off to $35 a barrel or less.

So are we set for a rough time over the next few months?

Well, you can look at the picture in several ways. You can look at reports that the High Street retail sector is slashing prices to get things moving. Do we have to do something similar, we wonder? Or are those stories just there because bad news is more interesting than good?

Certainly the shopping malls I get dragged to seem to be crowded beyond a joke. People are still spending money. Either that, or they are just window shopping and getting in the way of Mrs Nash and her wilting credit card.

House prices are flattening out. But that, as far as I can make out, doesn't mean there's a property crash in prospect.

So we seem to be floating along with no-one really knowing what's going to happen.

This is borne out by the latest trends survey from the British Marine Federation (BMF). The overall picture, says the BMF, "indicates a slightly more cautious picture than at this time last year and indicates concern about the effect of the current economic climate on the boating industry".

While the major concerns cited by the marine industry are the general economic situation, the potential loss of the derogation on red diesel and low attendance at boat shows, the report also shows the majority of respondents reached their targets.

Right now, we could talk ourselves into a downward spiral.

I reckon a small interest rate cut and a couple of weekends of sunny weather could make us all smile. Now; which weather guru was predicting a heatwave starting in July?