CEO Confidence Surveys 2Q 2014 – Notable Excerpts

On July 9, 2014, The Conference Board and PwC released the 2nd Quarter Measure Of CEO Confidence.   The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 62, down from 63 in the first quarter. [note:  a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses] Notable excerpts from this July 9 Press Release include: …

Read more

Deloitte “CFO Signals” Report Q2 2014 – Notable Aspects

Recently Deloitte released their “CFO Signals” “High-Level Summary” report for the 2nd Quarter of 2014. As seen in page 2 of the report, “One hundred and thirteen CFOs responded during the two-week period ending May 23. Seventy-one percent of respondents are from public companies, and 81% are from companies with more than $1B in annual …

Read more

June 2014 Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey – Notable Excerpts

On June 11, 2014 the June 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 excerpts: Survey results show nearly 60 percent of U.S. financial executives think the business environment has …

Read more

Corporate Profits As A Percentage Of GDP

In the last post (“1st Quarter 2014 Corporate Profits“) I displayed, for reference purposes, a long-term chart depicting Corporate Profits After Tax. 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 …

Read more

1st Quarter 2014 Corporate Profits

Today’s GDP release (Q1, 2nd Estimate)(pdf) was accompanied by the BLS Corporate Profits report for the 1st 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 May 29, 2014, …

Read more

Additional Thoughts Concerning Retail Sales

On May 1, 2014 I wrote a post titled “Retail Sales – Various Thoughts” concerning various notable changing aspects of retail sales, including aspects of rising stress in retailing. Subsequent to that post, there have been additional noteworthy developments concerning retail sales and retail stocks. As many are aware, April advance retail sales were considered …

Read more

Retail Sales – Various Thoughts

There are various changing dynamics regarding retail sales that I believe lack recognition. For reference purposes, here are charts depicting overall retail sales, as seen in Doug Short’s post of April 14, 2014 titled “March Advance Retail Sales Retail Sales Beat Expectations“: While the above chart seems to depict a continual (strong) upward trend, if …

Read more

CEO Confidence Surveys 1Q 2014 – Notable Excerpts

On April 9, 2014, The Conference Board and PwC released the 1st Quarter Measure Of CEO Confidence.   The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 63, up from 60 in the fourth quarter. [note:  a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses] Notable excerpts from this April 9 Press Release include: …

Read more

Deloitte “CFO Signals” Report Q1 2014 – Notable Aspects

Recently Deloitte released their “CFO Signals” “High-Level Summary” report for the 1st Quarter of 2014. As seen in page 2 of the report, “One hundred and nine CFOs responded during the two-week period ending February 21. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents are from public companies, and 81% are from companies with more than $1B in annual revenue. For …

Read more

Corporate Profits As A Percentage Of GDP

In the last post (“4th Quarter 2013 Corporate Profits“) I displayed, for reference purposes, a long-term chart depicting Corporate Profits After Tax. 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 …

Read more