Another day, another record high.
Markets pushed higher on the day after third quarter GDP grew by a faster than expected 2.1%, beating analyst estimates of just 1.9%.
However, some fear the party won’t last much longer, including the nation’s top CEOs.
At the moment, many are concerned about delivering earnings growth thanks to economic uncertainty, slowing global growth, that pesky trade war, and presidential election uncertainty, according to JP Morgan Chase, as noted by CNBC. “Everybody looks at the stock market and sees share prices going through the roof right now, but few of the CEOs I talk to feel good about that,” analyst JP Morgan John Richert said.
“There is an increased worry about their ability to deliver results amid prolonged periods of uncertainty next year,” he added.
While CEO confidence is slipping, consumers are still optimistic at the moment.
In fact, spending has been mostly resilient with October 2019 retail sales rebounding. Better, many analysts remain confident that consumers will continue to support the economy, coupled with a strong job market.
Unfortunately, CEOs aren’t convinced the good times will last.
Consumer confidence, for example, just fell for the fourth straight month in November on concerns over business conditions and employment issues, as highlighted by Reuters. “The economy is growing, but it would take a politician to say it is in good, let alone great shape,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.
As a result of all of this, many of the companies that JP Morgan has spoken with are pulling back capital spending for 2020, and “modeling how a possible recession will impact their business,” as also highlighted by CNBC.
It’ll be interesting to see what develops next for the economy.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date.
