Americans Confidence on Economy Dives to Lowest Mark in a Year

Americans Confidence on Economy Dives to Lowest Mark in a Year

$DIA, $SPY, $QQQ, $VXX, $AAPL

Notable 1: For the vast majority of Americans, the “Dream” of a better life was lost in the early 1970’s.

Notable 2: Apple Inc. (AAPL) -NasdaqGS  104.35 Down 0.73(0.69%) 4:00p EDT After Hours : 96.10 Down 8.25 (7.91%) 7:59p EDT

Americans’ confidence in the economy dove to its lowest weekly mark so far this year and the worst level since last Summer.

Gallup’s US Economic Confidence Index averaged minus 16 for the week ending 24 April. The latest figure represents a 4-point drop from the previous week’s average. The last time Gallup found a lower weekly score was in August 2015.

“Pessimism has increased despite a strong stock market in recent weeks and a persistent low unemployment rate,” Gallup reported.

“However, there have been reports of weak retail sales and expectations of low 1st quarter economic growth. Gas prices have also started to rise, although they remain well below where they were for most of the past decade. Finally, consistent statements from presidential candidates about how they would fix the US economy if elected might play a part in keeping Americans’ economic optimism at lower levels.”

A new study released by The Levy Economic Institute found that 90% of Americans earn roughly the same real income today as they earned back in the early 1970’s.

Economic stagnation did not reach the remaining 10% of the population, which has seen a sharp rise in their real incomes (adjusted for inflation) over the same frame, according to the study.

So, for the vast majority of Americans, the “Dream” of a better life was lost back in the early 1970’s.

A US Fed official said recently the United States is no longer the Top country for achieving the American Dream.

“While income mobility in the United States has been relatively unchanged, it remains well below several other nations,” New York Fed President William Dudley said in a speech about economic opportunity and income mobility.

“The probability of moving from the bottom quintile to the top quintile is 7.5% in the United States, as compared to 11.7% in Denmark and 13.5% in Canada; 2 countries with relatively high levels of inter-generational mobility.”

“So effectively the chance of achieving the American Dream is not the highest for children born in America,” said Mr. Dudley, a permanent FOMC voter on policy.

“Broadly, the economy’s potential growth rate depends on effectively investing in and taking advantage of all of the resources in the economy — in particular, we need to achieve the full potential of the human capital of all Americans,” Mr. Dudley said.

Tuesday, the US major stock market indexes finished at: DJIA +13.21 at 17990.32, NAS Comp -7.48 at 4888.31, S&P 500 +3.91 at 2091.70

Volume: Trade on the NYSE was above average with nearly 900-M/shares exchanged.

• DJIA +3.2% YTD
• S&P 500 +2.3% YTD
• Russell 2000 +1.3% YTD
• NAS Comp -2.4% YTD

Notable: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) -NasdaqGS  104.35 Down 0.73(0.69%) 4:00p EDT After Hours : 96.10 Down 8.25 (7.91%) 7:59p EDT

Stay tuned…

Paul Ebeling

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