"Economists are pessimists: they've predicted 8 of the last 3 depressions."
--Barry Asmus

The Required Disclosures

The information presented in this blog and its individual articles is provided for informational use only and should not be considered investment advice or an offer for a particular security. The contents reflect the views and opinions of the individual writer as of the date the article was written and do not necessarily represent the views of the individual writer on the current date. They also do not in any way, shape, or form represent the views of the Firm Never-To-Be-Named. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions and The Great Redoubt and its individual writers disclaim any responsibility to update such views. These views should not be relied on as investment advice, and because investment decisions for any security are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of any contributor to The Great Redoubt. Neither The Great Redoubt nor any individual author can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered. Please consult your tax or financial advisor for additional information concerning your specific situation.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

NFIB Small Business Optimism Index

It's time for the National Federation of Independent Businesses to release its survey of small business attitudes towards topics such as employment, capital spending, inventories, credit conditions, and so on and so forth.  You know.  All those things that represent the life blood of a business.  And since small businesses employ right around half of all private sectors and pay nearly half of the total US private payroll, those things also represent the life blood of US GDP.
 
Last month, we saw a bearish small business sector, with a 2.6 decline in the overall index (falling to a level of 91.9).  The survey results indicated that small businesses were bearish on employment, economic improvement, and earnings, but were bullish on capital outlay plans and plans to increase employment.
 
There are no analyst projections, mostly because analysts don't seem to really care about this report.  The press release shows a second month of waning optimism, with the index falling 0.7 to a level of 91.2 for April.  Drilling into the report, we see that small businesses are optimistic about earnings , and substantially pessimistic about economic improvement, future capital outlays, and economic improvement.

No comments:

Post a Comment