Majority Of Small Business Owners
Think Recession Is Coming THIS YEAR
In
a new survey, a majority of small business owners think that another recession
is coming, and soon. Over half of small business owners surveyed believe that
the recession will happen in the next year.Likely using their business sense that made them successful and looking at the overall big picture (which is painted nicely over a big pile of excrement), small business owners are not all that optimistic about the coming year. The latest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey is highlighting concerns of United States entrepreneurs. As the mainstream media continues to whitewash the precarious situation the national and global economy is in, many are slowing realizing just how disastrous the next crash or recession will be; and part of the apocalyptic future will be because the media refused to tell the blatant truth about how bad the debt crisis and everything bubble truly is.
This was the first time in the two-year-plus history of the survey that small-business owners were asked for their recession forecast, but the broader survey trends over time indicate more caution on the part of entrepreneurs as multiple readings of small-business sentiment has declined, reported CNBC of their own survey.
“While a slim majority of small-business owners see a recession ahead, there’s little sign that they think it’s imminent,” said Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey. “The small-business index has tapered off from its peak in Q3 2018, but it certainly hasn’t hit a wall, and several of its core components remain strong,” Cohen said. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. Even some of the elitists who wield power overothers have come out with warnings that a recession is nearing and that they [your political overlords] won’t be able to stop it or even help you out.
Wall Street surveys also are revealing elevated recessionary
fears. The CNBCFed
Survey conducted in January, which includes economists, fund managers, and
strategists, placed the
probability of a recession in the next 12 months at 26 percent, the third
straight increase and the highest since January 2016, and the highest of the
Trump presidency. A recent Wall Street Journal survey of economists finds fears of
a recession at a seven-year high. -CNBC
A
nationwide survey of more than 10,000 Americans conducted by SurveyMonkey in
January also found a high level of recession anxiety. Main Street looks
like they understand just how glaringly bad things can become. 63 percent
of Americans say a recession is likely in the next year and
only 10 percent saying it was “very unlikely.” But are Americans prepared for a recession? Most
analysts say no, as it seems no lessons were learned after the 2008 Great
Recession.
Fund Manager: The Fed Reflates The Stock
Bubble As The Economy Crumbles
The stock market may be on a sharp
post-Christmas rally, but the real economy reflects a much different reality.
Dave Kranzler has the details… I get a kick out of
these billionaires and centimillionaires, like Kyle Bass yesterday, who appear
on financial television to look the viewer in the eye and tell them that
economy is booming. Kyle Bass doesn’t expect a mild recession
until mid-2020. Hmmm – explain that rationale to the 78%+ households who are
living paycheck to paycheck, bloated with a record level of debt and barely
enough savings to cover a small emergency.
After dining on a
lunch fit for Elizabethan royalty with Trump, Jerome Powell decided it was a
good idea to make an attempt at reflating the stock bubble. After going
vertical starting December 26th, the Dow had been moving sideways since January
18th, possibly getting ready to tip over. The FOMC took care of that with its
policy directive on January 30th, two hours before the stock market closed.
Notwithstanding the Fed’s efforts to reflate the stock bubble – or at least an
attempt to prevent the stock market from succumbing to the gravity of
deteriorating fundamentals – at some point the stock market is going to head
south abruptly again. That might be the move that precipitates the renewal of
money printing.
Contrary to the
official propaganda the economy must be in far worse shape than can be gleaned
from the publicly available data if the Fed is willing to stop nudging rates
higher a quarter of a point at a time and hint at the possibility of more money
printing “if needed.” Remember, the Fed has access to much more detailed and
accurate data than is made available to the public, including Wall Street. The
Fed sees something in the numbers that sent them retreating abruptly and
quickly from any attempt to tighten monetary policy.
For me, this graphic
conveys the economic reality as well as any economic report:
The chart above shows
the Wall Street analyst consensus earnings growth rate for each quarter in
2019. Over the last three months, the analyst consensus EPS forecast has been
reduced 8% to almost no earnings growth expected in Q1 2019. Keep in mind that
analyst forecasts are based on management “guidance.” The nearest next quarter
always has the sharpest pencil applied to projections because corporate CFO’s
have most of the numbers that go into “guidance.” As you can see, earnings
growth rate projections have deteriorated precipitously for all four quarters.
The little “U” turn in Q4 is the obligatory “hockey stick” of optimism
forecast.
Perhaps one of the
best “grass roots” fundamental indicators is the mood of small businesses,
considered the back-bone of the U.S. economy. After hitting a peak reading of
120 in 2018, the Small Business Confidence Index fell of a cliff in January to
95. The index is compiled by Vistage Worldwide, which compiles a monthly survey
of 765 small businesses. Just 14% expect the economy to improve this year and
36% expect it to get worse. For the first time since the 2016 election, small
businesses were more pessimistic about their own financial prospects than they
were a year earlier, including plans for hiring and investment.
The Vistage measure of
small business “confidence” was reinforced by the National Federation of
Independent Businesses confidence index which plunged to its lowest level since
Trump elected. It seems the “hope” that was infused into the American psyche
and which drove the stock market to nose-bleed valuation levels starting in
November 2016 has leaked out of the bubble. The Fed will not be able to replace
that hot air with money printing.
I would argue that
small businesses are a reflection of the sentiment and financial condition of
the average household, as these businesses are typically locally-based service
and retail businesses. The sharp drop in confidence in small businesses
correlates with the sharp drop in the Conference Board’s consumer confidence
numbers.
The negative economic
data flowing from the private sector thus reflects a much different reality
than is represented by the sharp rally in the stock market since Christmas and
the general level of the stock market. At some point, the stock market will
“catch down” to reality. This move will likely occur just as abruptly and
quickly as the rally of the last 6 weeks.
Taxes, Taxes & More Taxes: The Left’s
Economic Agenda Has Surprising Level Of Public Support
If this year goes badly for President Trump, we
could actually see a “tax and spend liberal” turn the map mostly blue in 2020.
Here’s why…The left wants to raise your taxes, and most Americans are okay
with that. I was shocked by the numbers that I am about to share with
you, and I think that you will be shocked too. Once upon a time, being
labeled as a “tax and spend liberal” was one of the worst things that could
happen to a politician. During the presidential election of 1984, Walter
Mondale was very honest about the fact that he wanted to raise taxes on the
American people, and Ronald Reagan absolutely crushed him with that. In
the end, it was one of the greatest election night landslides in history.
But this time around we could potentially see the opposite. If things go
badly for Trump, we could actually see a “tax and spend liberal” turn the map
mostly blue in 2020. I know that sounds very, very strange, but the
latest poll numbers show that the American people strongly support raising
taxes on the wealthy.
For example, the most recent Politico poll found that 76 percent of
registered votersbelieve that taxes should be raised on the richest Americans…
Surveys
are showing overwhelming support for raising taxes on top earners, including a
new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Monday that found 76 percent of
registered voters believe the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. A
recent Fox News survey showed that 70
percent of Americans favor raising taxes on those earning
over $10 million — including 54
percent of Republicans.
Those numbers are absolutely overwhelming.
When even a Fox News survey shows that most Republicans want
higher taxes, then you know that something has dramatically changed.
And this high level of support for tax increases persists even
when voters are asked about specific proposals from Democrats on the far
left. If you can believe it, 59 percent of Americans are even in favor of
AOC’s proposal to raise the highest marginal tax rate to 70 percent…
A
plan from first-term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to slap a 70
percent marginal rate on income earned over $10 million clocked in at 59 percent support in
a recent Hill/HarrisX poll.
The
new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, conducted Feb. 1-2, found that 61 percent favor
a proposal like the “wealth tax” recently laid out by Sen. Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.) that would levy a 2 percent tax on those with a net worth over $50
million and 3 percent on those worth over $1 billion. Just 20 percent opposed the idea.
The poll surveyed 1,993 registered voters and carries a margin of error of plus
or minus 2 percent.
To me, voting for politicians that unashamedly want higher taxes
is kind of like voting for more root canals or more telemarketing calls during
dinner.
But right now the poll numbers clearly show that the left is
winning the battle for hearts and minds, and that is a huge problem for the
Republican Party.
Today, many Democrats work very hard to fight for their agenda
in the court of popular opinion, but meanwhile most Republicans in Congress are
simply “seat fillers” that make absolutely no effort to educate the
public. This is something that must change if
Republicans hope to ever turn things around.
So why do Democrats want higher taxes?
Well, the primary reason they need higher taxes is to pay for
multi-trillion dollar programs such as the “Green New Deal” and “Medicare For
All”.
In particular, the “Green New Deal” would take an insane amount
of money to implement. Here is a summary of some of the craziest
proposals in the “Green New Deal” that was put together by Michael Palicz…
- Rebuild every single building in the U.S.
“Upgrade or replace every building in US for state-of-the-art
energy efficiency.”
- Will end all traditional forms of energy in the
next ten years.
The Green New Deal is “a 10-year plan to mobilize every aspect
of American society at a scale not seen since World War 2 to achieve net-zero
greenhouse gas emissions.”
- Plans to ban nuclear energy within 10 years if
possible.
“It’s unclear if we will be able to decommission every nuclear
plant within 10 years, but the plan is to transition off of nuclear and all
fossil fuels as soon as possible.”
- Build trains across oceans and end all air travel!
“Build out highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops
becoming necessary”.
- Don’t invest in new technology of Carbon Capture
and Storage, just plant trees instead!
“We believe the right way to capture carbon is to plant trees
and restore our natural ecosystems. CCUS technology to date has not proven
effective.”
- Mandates all new jobs be unionized.
“Ensure that all GND jobs are union jobs that pay prevailing
wages and hire local.”
Nobody knows for sure what all of that will cost, but needless
to say the total would be in the trillions of dollars.
But most Americans are not in favor of higher taxes on the
wealthy because they want to see such radical proposals come to fruition.
Rather, they like the idea of higher taxes because they think
somehow they will get some goodies out of it.
In recent years, politicians on the far left have gotten a lot
of mileage out of turning all of our basic needs into “rights”. They have
been boldly declaring that all Americans should have a “right” to housing,
health care and a basic college education even if they don’t want to work for
those things.
But if you are “entitled” to something, then that means that
somebody else has to pay for it.
And most Americans are in favor of that concept until it becomes
their turn to pay.
Americans
all over the country suggested they are OK with a majority of the people voting
to take a minority of the people’s money, as long as they are not part of that
minority.
“I am
a very generous person, so I believe everyone else needs to pay their fair
share,” said Lyle Hartright of Maine. “Everyone that isn’t me, I mean.”
“These
are stunning results,” said one analyst. “We always believed that Americans
were generous, but we never knew how generous. To offer to raise taxes to 70%
or more on other people just goes to show how much compassion people have.”
America has already traveled quite far down the road toward
socialism, and instead of reversing course, it looks like the American people
want to pick up the pace.
But all we have to do to see where that road leads is to look at
Venezuela. Unfortunately, most Americans are not making that connection
at this point.
No comments:
Post a Comment