Investors sense that the economy is at a crossroads. A political crossroads.
The headwinds that remain have less to do with bank stress tests, and more to do with CEO sentiment. The Business Roundtable reports “record low” CEO confidence as of early April.
Why are CEOs in such a low mood? Answer: If you are a CEO in financial services, manufacturing, energy production, [or] health care, you are going to be more regulated. Period, end of story. Your response to forthcoming regulation of yet-to-be-determined complexity will be to hunker down.
One example does not data make, but “I am a hospital CEO and I am doing exactly what he says here – hunkering down before the government take over of health care hits.”
And yet .... my own sense that the market has bottomed out and investors are cautiously testing the waters (I am).
And yet ... General Motors appears to be resigned to bankruptcy. As I’ve commented before, my sense is that business is (albeit slowly) deciding to swallow hard, face up to the taxpayer wrath, and go for a well-ordered court dissolution rather than face the “fickle finger” of government.
Maybe the Tea Parties are having an effect, strengthening private enterprise resolve to fight back.
I think what we'll definitely lose, no matter what, all the "Never in America" 's.
ReplyDeleteWe now have a black President, that a liberal friend three years ago assured me was impossible because there are still country clubs. That was truly the extent of his logic.
And wherever our policies take us, I do believe that we'll discover that what doesn't work in other countries will not, in fact, work here either. And by all this, I’m trying to say that whatever will be forced will be forced (regulations or freedoms), and the country will noticeably change its landscape for the first time in, what, twenty years? Whether that’s to the right or to the left I truly believe depends on forces that may not have made themselves known yet. And I don’t mean that in conspiracy theory slang, I just mean they haven’t felt threatened or empowered enough to be active yet. And I think that’s enough jibber-jabber for one comment box.
Just passed by Fox News, Cavuto was interviewing a woman who was getting plastic surgury to help with her job hunt.
ReplyDeleteMade me realize, whatever we're in, the media have done a create job of making the days feel casually catastrophic.