There is nothing we marketers love more than drinking our own bathwater. Here's my contribution: a list of headlines I've seen in the last week or so that would seem to indicate a rally in the flagging ad market for the second half of this year. Wishful thinking? All I know is that in the pundit business, three makes a trend, and here are six hopeful articles:

• "Madison Avenue Shows Optimism" - Upbeat analysis by New York Times ad guru Stuart Elliott, in which he claims that many major ad agencies are looking for opportunity in the downturn and sensing an ad industry recovery in the second half of this year and are hiring senior talent.

• "The New York Times Company Reports Improved Results for Second Quarter 2002" - Official press release, in which Russell Lewis, the company's president and CEO, said "NYTD, our digital division, experienced strong advertising revenue growth, which helped it achieve its most profitable quarter ever."

• "Ad Resurgence Helps Buoy Latest Figures from Yahoo" - New York Times

• "Slimmed-Down DoubleClick Turns Profit" - Internet Advertising Report

• "Newspaper results hint at advertising rebound" - Reuters analyzing recent positive profit announcements from The New York Times and Gannett.

• "June Magazine Advertising Revenue Continues to Grow" - Magazine Publishers of America press release, which continues "More Major Advertising Categories Increase Spending: Total magazine advertising revenue for the month of June increased 6.1% compared to June of last year."