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In the face of the recent slowdown, are you bullish or bearish?
March 16, 2001
What a difference a year (or two) makes.
A little over a year ago at this time, the American economy was riding high. The Dow was well over 11,000, the Nasdaq was through the roof and the overall economic outlook was pretty darn rosy.
The past year, however, the bloom has fallen off the rose a bit. While we haven’t been showing many signs of the dreaded “R word” (recession), we are hearing phrases like “economic slowdown” and “sluggish growth” being bandied about rather regularly.
The Dow has dipped below 10,000 twice (Wednesday being the most recent plunge), the Federal Reserve has cut interests rates twice (with a third expected Tuesday), companies in both the old and new economy have been laying off workers, and most notably, the “Day Traders” have gone back to playing Ms. Pac Man on their lunch hours.
With the recent reversal of fortune – how confident are you in the U.S. economy? Are you bullish or bearish about its future? Has the recent downturn been overblown by the media – or do you think we are in for further hard times?
Here are a few more questions to ponder:
- Do you think the prosperity we enjoyed over a year ago at this time was justified or was it “irrational exuberance” as some critics have called it?
- Do you think the current slowdown we are experiencing will last for a long time, or will the economy rebound soon?
- What do you think of the job done by the Federal Reserve? After two half-point interest rate cuts earlier in the year, they are planning another on Tuesday. Do you think this will help or hurt the economy?
- What effect do you think George Bush’s proposed tax cut will have on the economy? Will it stimulate growth?
- Finally, how has the recent slowdown affected your investing habits? Have you been investing more? Less?
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