A Few Reasons to Look Forward to 2010
Time to bid farewell to the "awful aughties", a lost decade of zero job creation and zero stock growth. The '00s began with the tech bubble and 9/11 and ended with 10 percent unemployment and a federal government that seems to believe it can spend its way out of any problem.
In economic terms, the Unites States may be back to where it was at the end of the Clinton Administration. But the country is still standing. And there are a few indicators which suggest that we can be cautiously optimistic for the next year, and hopefully decade, ahead.
Let's start with 2010:
- 82 percent of Americans say that they are "optimistic about what 2010 will bring for them and their loved ones," according to an Associated Press-GfK poll
- The consumer confidence index, published by the Conference Board, has risen to 52.9 in December, which is a a three-month high; that's up from February's historic low of 25.3 but unfortunately, still well below 2007's "stable" reading of 90.6
- Big company CEOs are ready to increase capital expenditures and many anticipate higher sales tallies for the first half of 2010, according to a survey by Business Roundtable, an association of top executives
- Among those who had lay-offs in 2009, thirty-two percent of employers now say they plan to bring back workers in 2010, according to a CareerBuilder/Harris Interactive poll of hiring managers
- The consensus amongst Wall Street analysts is that corporate earnings will increase next year , up to a 30 percent gain over 2009, according to Thomson Financial
And have a Happy New Year!