Americans have grown more optimistic about the economy and the direction of the country since President Obama took office in January, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll on Monday.
Two-thirds of respondents said they approved of Obama’s overall job performance.
That is the people on the street, but the CEOs are not showing the same confidence.
The survey, conducted quarterly since the fourth quarter of 2002, reveals economic assumptions and outlooks of Business Roundtable member CEOs for the next six months.
When asked how they expect their company’s sales to fluctuate, 24 percent predicted an increase, 9 percent said no change and 67 percent said sales will decrease.
In terms of how they expect their company’s U.S. capital spending to change, 9 percent said it will go up; 25 percent reported no change; and 66 percent said it will drop.
In terms of changes to U.S. staffing levels at the company, 7 percent predicted a boost in hiring; 21 percent said levels will stay the same; and 71 said their workforce would decrease.
The CEO confidence index fell to minus-5 in the first quarter from 16.8 in the fourth quarter, the business trade group said. The index, which ranges from minus-50 to 150, was at 79.5 a year ago.
The chief executives expect the economy to contract 1.9% in 2009; three months ago, they thought the economy would be flat.
You see there is always a disconnect between Main Street and Wall Street. The people, according to a recent poll are optimistic and Wall Street is pessimistic.
The disconnect is this….the people are not that knowledgeable on economic issues and they voted for change and like the new president and are willing to give him some time to see if his policies and programs will bring them any relief before they issue their final judgment. Then there is Wall Street and the economists that are the cheerleaders of the system as it is….they look at the numbers, trends and cycles…they are armed with the facts and the facts are pessimistic.
Who will win the battle of the “istics” in the end? Only the fortune telling 8 ball has the “real” answers.
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the problem with stats like “When asked how they expect their company’s sales to fluctuate, 24 percent predicted an increase, 9 percent said no change and 67 percent said sales will decrease.” is that they are so general; a company that manufactures and sells, for example, firearms, may well expect an increase; that doesn’t mean that a customer will buy things from a company specialising in coffee machines…
But a company that seels guns is not a leading indicator, well at least not for most……but I see that the stats are probably cooked….to either reassure investors or to make it more favorable for investment. These guys have not told the truth since 1950, so why believe any of it now?