Is recession ending??

Lately some good news is coming out. Hong Kong has shown signs of economic growth. Recent news from Japan also indicates that maybe world is finally coming out of danger. For the past couple of months stocks everywhere also has gone up. But i don't really believe that stock fluctuation can be a reliable metric of change.

One measure of how bad economy is by observing how people are behaving. I live in an apartment complex. It has several trash cans. Earlier i used to see that typically poor people (they are carrying a shopping cart, and wearing shabby clothes) came to pickup the bottles and other recyclable items from the trash cans. I guess they use to sell it at recycle centers. But lately i see a different trend. I see people coming in cars to pick those bottles. And these are relatively good looking cars. So it makes me wonder what has changed. Is the recycling that profitable these days or simply people are anyhow struggling to survive.