Corporate confidence is back
Corporate confidence is back as we have seen corporate executives buying back their stocks. That shows they see positives, not only in their companies but in the economy as a whole. Corporate confidence slowed during the election, which was not unexpected, but it has really picked up in the past two months.
Can the market go higher?
Can the market go higher?The S&P 500 went over 2300 on Thursday. The question is whether this is a continued resistance level or could it become a support that could lead the market to go higher? There could be an answer to this question this week.
Donald Trump’s nominees’ impact on corporate confidence
Many of President Trump’s nominees have been approved already but this week we will see nominees for positions that will impact tax reform and market confidence. The Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, could be confirmed today. It’s really hard to get tax reform moving without a treasury secretary. Mnuchin’s confirmation could increase corporate confidence that is built around corporate tax reform. Wilbur Ross is also up for confirmation as Commerce Secretary. These are two appointments that have more to do with the economy than with politics and they could inspire more corporate confidence.
Regulations are dropping
We are seeing a trend in regulations dropping which lowers corporate costs. We expect to see a ramp up of attacks on Dodd-Frank, as one example. One of the internal cores of Dodd-Frank is the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau which has created a huge cost burden on banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. The agency itself has grown in employees by 1274% in just six years. As one negative impact, credit unions as a whole nationally have seen a $7 billion cost impact. If that could be extracted, that would relieve a great deal of the cost burden.
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Greg Powell, CIMA
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Fi Plan Partners is an independent investment firm in Birmingham, AL, serving clients across the nation through financial planning, wealth management and business consulting. Fi Plan Partners creates strategies in the best interest of their clients using both fee based investing and transactional investing.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
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