Gallup's daily index of
economic confidence has been plumbing lows not seen since September 2008, the Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy noted on Thursday.
«Few actions correlate more directly with
economic confidence than personal investment,» said John Suh, CEO of LegalZoom, in a statement.
Though these numbers aren't great, Tim Kane, an economist at the conservative - leaning Hoover Institute, said that
economic confidence tends to be based on the business cycle.
The economic confidence index jumped to 107.8 in December from a revised figure of 106.6 in November.
Gallup notes that this positive change is also associated with an increase in standard of living ratings,
economic confidence, and job availability.
Despite warnings before the vote that Brexit would shatter
economic confidence, some positive economic data and Softbank's (sftby) $ 32 billion takeover of Britain's technology company ARM have stoked the perception that Britain could prosper outside the EU.
«While directors»
economic confidence has edged into positive territory, there's still plenty keeping them on the fence.
On the one hand numerous indicators point to solid economic conditions, or at least buoyant
economic confidence, and lending conditions are very easy, as are credit spreads and borrowing rates.
One of them is that deep into an expansion, higher
economic confidence reduces the likelihood that many markets will panic at the same time, and means market - specific stories are often bigger drivers than the more binary question of «recession, or not?»
In other words, the gold / GYX ratio (gold relative to the Industrial Metals Index) tends to fall during the booms, which are periods when
economic confidence rises while mal - investment sets the stage for an economic contraction, and rise during the busts, which are periods when the mistakes of the past come to the fore.
I doubt that the decline in
economic confidence has run its course, so I expect the gold / commodity ratio to move further into new - high territory before something more important than a short - term top is put in place.
Since credit spreads are one of the best indicators of
economic confidence, with generally - widening credit spreads signifying declining confidence and generally - narrowing credit spreads signifying rising confidence, it would be logical if there were a positive correlation between the gold / commodity ratio and credit spreads.
«A downgrade would mean a weaker dollar, somewhat higher interest rates and a further blow to the already fragile national
economic confidence,» Mr. El - Erian said.
A rational explanation of gold's relative expensiveness begins with the premise that major trends in the gold / commodity ratio are invariably associated — in an inverse manner — with major trends in
economic confidence.
In this week's edition we look at US
economic confidence reaching almost record highs, the Energy Sector at a cyclical / structural low point in the S&P 500, the astonishing performan...
After all, if the official plan to address a «price inflation» problem involves fixing prices and distributing «Whip Inflation Now» buttons, and at the same time the central bank and the government are experimenting with Keynesian demand - boosting strategies, then there's only one way for
economic confidence to go, and that's down.
Since mid-2013 there have been a few multi-month periods when it appeared as if
economic confidence was turning down, but on each occasion the downturn wasn't sustained.
For now,
the economic confidence engendered to a large extent by the rising stock market is putting irresistible downward pressure on the gold price.
We believe that a high degree of
economic confidence for the euro zone will lead the ECB to hike rates next year, even though inflation will likely remain far from the bank's price - stability objective.
While geopolitical uncertainty always has potential to shake
economic confidence, Rhea Thomas, an economist with Wilmington Trust Co., said she did not think it would be enough to slow down global growth.
In the meantime, the economy that cooperated with welfare reform by providing jobs and
economic confidence in the late 1990s has turned sour.
During this period, it would be difficult, as it was in 1974, to take the tough measures needed to restore
economic confidence.
The recent recovery in Labour's position in the polls dates from the bank rescue in October 2008, which has also seen a recovery in
economic confidence.
The recovery in
economic confidence though tells the underlying truth; people may not be able to point at a specific policy and say it will solve things, but collectively the government's actions have served to convince some people that things are getting better.
Labour's position completely tanked in the months after the budget, at the same time as
economic confidence really began to fall through the floor.
A breakdown of the results suggests Labour's falling support can be traced back to the Budget and the wider financial downturn, with Labour losing voters»
economic confidence.
Mr Brown may have attempted to build his reputation on a record of
economic confidence but he is now suffering as more than half of voters say they are worried or fairly worried about the possibility of a recession next year.
Economic confidence is very poor — the proportion of people expecting the country to fall back into recession has grown to 73 %, up from 59 % when YouGov asked in February.
Other parts of the gold story include indicators of
economic confidence and financial - market liquidity, such as credit spreads and the yield curve.
According to Discover Card's Small Business Watch, «
Economic confidence among small business owners saw its largest jump in nine months as fewer owners see the economy getting worse and more believe conditions are improving for their own operations.»
Thanksgiving weekend retail sales in particular increased 0.9 percent over 2013, which MasterCard has attributed to the increasing levels of
economic confidence among consumers.
It may take more time before the recent encouraging improvements in the labor market and
economic confidence lead to further increases in consumer spending.»
In 2005, energy exploration of the Barnett Shale in Texas, resulting from new technology, inspired
an economic confidence in the industry as similar operations soon followed across the Southeast, including at Arkansas» Fayetteville Shale and Louisiana's Haynesville Shale.
The studies cover: IT security, law firm M&A,
economic confidence, attorney lifestyle and eDiscovery.
The lead article in this past weekend's Wall Street Journal bore the headline:
Economic Confidence Rebounds.
The lead article in the September 12 - 13, 2009 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal displayed the headline:
Economic Confidence Rebounds.
Political uncertainty could also prove highly disruptive to «animal spirits» and
economic confidence.
This lack of
economic confidence is underscored by the Conference Board's latest figures, which show a significant 5 - point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index for September 2015.
Reduced
economic confidence in the face of the economy's improvements persisted, with more households feeling less secure about their financial situation, and less people believing the economy is improving.
Economic confidence is waning, even though the economy has expanded more than 3 percent over the last two quarters, with strong job gains and mortgage rates that remain historically low.
July 11, 2013 CoreNet Global
Economic Confidence Index Predicts Upbeat Economic, Corporate Climates for Second Half of 2013
As
economic confidence returns in Canada, many survey respondents have told us they now feel comfortable using some of that equity to improve their homes and to invest,» says Murphy.
Not exact matches
The current Fed chair said she felt this summer's market volatility said something about
confidence in global
economic growth.
Analysts said they weren't reading too much into what they described as a «backward - looking indicator» and were hopeful about the
economic prospects given an upturn in recent indicators such as
confidence and machinery orders, not to mention efforts by Japan's new government to revive growth.
The positive
economic data, which included the release of better - than - expected purchasing managers» index (PMI) readings last Wednesday, and a large current account surplus in some euro zone economies, have given
confidence to investors to buy euros.
A fitful recovery in the United States, a debt crisis in Europe, and wobbles in China all have undermined global
economic growth and
confidence at various points.
«The relationship of Italians with the EU, over the last year since we've seen some
economic growth, it's not been sufficient and satisfactory enough to create
confidence among the majority of the population.
Wall Street stock futures are higher and the dollar at a five - month low, as the Federal Reserve's partial retreat from its rate - hike intentions boosts
confidence for the world
economic outlook and leads to the unwinding of some of the «safe haven» flows into the U.S. currency over recent months.
«The decline in
confidence was fueled by a somewhat less optimistic outlook for business and job prospects in the coming months,» Lynn Franco, Director of
Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement.
Trump's embrace of trade barriers this year has sparked fears of tit - for - tat retaliation that could undermine consumer
confidence and stymie the strongest global
economic expansion in years.