The new year may seem like 2004 all over again

The Northern Colorado Business Report Index of Leading Indicators is struggling to remain positive.

The data shown in the nearby graph has been adjusted for September and October; otherwise it would be strongly negative, down to a 20 percent contraction rate in October. The data adjustment was necessary because of the bankruptcy law that became effective on Oct. 19. August bankruptcy data was slightly higher than normal, September data was 75 percent above normal and October bankruptcies were more than 400 percent above normal. November bankruptcies fell to one-tenth of their level earlier in 2005 (only 20 in Northern Colorado).…