America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
“Affordability” of products and services, both now and in the future, is an issue that seems to lack recognition, for a variety of reasons including aggregate U.S. income trends. One example of this was highlighted on Wednesday, and was seen in a CNBC article titled “New Cars Increasingly Out of Reach for Many Americans” that discusses …
The February NFIB Small Business Optimism report was released yesterday, February 12. The headline of the Press Release is “Small-Business Owner Confidence Barely Budges.” The subtitle is “The New Year begins with low expectation for future growth.” The Index of Small Business Optimism rose .9 points in January to 88.9. Here are some excerpts from …
In the December 3, 2012 post (“3rd Quarter Corporate Profits“) I displayed, for reference purposes, a long-term chart depicting Corporate Profits. There are many ways to view this measure, both on an absolute as well as relative basis. One relative measure is viewing Corporate Profits as a Percentage of GDP. I feel that this metric …
On January 7, The Conference Board released its 4th Quarter CEO Confidence Survey. The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 46, up from 42 in the third quarter. [note: a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses] Notable excerpts from this January 7 Press Release include: CEOs’ assessment of current …
Recently Deloitte released their “CFO Signals” “High-Level Summary” report for the 4th Quarter of 2012. As seen in page 2 of the report, “Eighty-six CFOs responded this quarter. Three fourths of the CFOs are from public companies, and 77% are from companies with more than $1B in annual revenue.” Here are some excerpts that I found notable: …
On December 12 the December Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey (pdf) was released. It contains a variety of statistics regarding how CFOs view business and economic conditions. In this CFO Survey, I found the following to be the most notable excerpt: The fiscal cliff is among the greatest concerns affecting the corporate sector, trailing only weak consumer demand …
The December NFIB Small Business Optimism report was released yesterday, December 11. The headline of the Press Release is “Small Business Owner Confidence Plunges More than 5 Points.” The subtitle is “One of the lowest optimism readings in survey history.” The Index of Small Business Optimism fell by 5.6 point in November to 87.5. Here …
Last Thursday’s GDP release (Q3, 2nd Estimate) was accompanied by the BLS Corporate Profits report (preliminary) for the 3rd Quarter. Of course, there are many ways to adjust and depict overall Corporate Profits. For reference purposes, here is a chart from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) showing the Corporate Profits After Tax (last updated …
The September NFIB Small Business Optimism report was released today, October 9. The headline of the Press Release is “Hiring Plans Plunge: Small Business Optimism Drops .1, Expectations for the Future Remain Low.” The Index of Small Business Optimism fell by .1 point in September to 92.8. Here are some excerpts from the Press Release …
On October 4, The Conference Board released its 3rd Quarter CEO Confidence Survey. The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 42, down from 47 in the second quarter. Notable excerpts from this October 4 Press Release include: Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “This latest report reflects ongoing concern about …