yet they still flock to the $us?, page-8

some more outrageously bullish $US news.Gold setting up for
a pizzling.
I'm trying to do "gods work".
"Forgive them Lord,for they know not what they do"
Profits to all.BMD.

U.S. small business spirits downcast in February

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Optimism among the country's small businesses slipped in February as entrepreneurs worried about repeatedly weak sales, the National Federation of Independent Business said in a survey released on Tuesday.

The NFIB said its monthly small business optimism index dropped 1.3 points to 88.0 in February from January with the index below 90 for 17 straight months, and below 90 in all but four months since January 2008.

"Credit access is not a major factor holding up economic growth, at least the kind of growth we want," said William Dunkelberg, chief economist for NFIB.

The survey showed 34 percent of the small business owners said weak sales are their top business problem.

"Owners will borrow when expectations that sales will rise and generate new revenue to pay for investments and new hires become positive," Dunkelberg said.

Small business owners continued to liquidate inventories and weak sales trends gave little reason to order new stocks.

Ordinarily leaner stocks should mean big production gains, but stubbornly high unemployment and sluggish income growth are holding back domestic demand.

The U.S. economy resumed growth in the second half of 2009 following the worst recession since the 1930s. The labor market has lagged the recovery as businesses remain skeptical of the sustainability of the rebound.

"Something is preventing owners from "pulling the trigger," Dunkelberg said. "Very few owners felt that growth opportunities were solid enough to warrant expansion."

Owners complained that "poor sales" was their top problem, and there is no need to hire with no new customers, NFIB said.

Over the next three months, more small business owners are planning to cut jobs than add.

"Net job creation will appear in the coming months, but the gains will be painfully slow with timid consumer spending, especially in the service sector," said Dunkelberg.

Analysts widely expect nonfarm payrolls to swing into positive territory in March. The economy has shed 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.

Payrolls have dropped every single month since then, with the exception of last November when they grew by 64,000.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6281UD20100309


US consumer confidence lowest since March 2009

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fell in March to its lowest level in a year, as high unemployment and the ways in which the government is using taxpayer money draw mounting apprehension in households, a research group said on Tuesday.

Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence said their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index slipped to 45.4 in March from February's reading of 46.8.

It was the lowest level the gauge has hit since March 2009. Readings above 50 indicate optimism, while those below 50 point to pessimism.

"Confidence has been hurt by continued job declines and concerns about the economy's lack of vigor," said Terry Jones, associate editor of Investor's Business Daily.

"Despite the spending of trillions of dollars of taxpayer money on stimulus and 'too-big-to-fail' bailouts, the economy doesn't appear to have entered into anything resembling a self-sustaining expansion," Jones said, adding that persistent attempts to pass a "wildly unpopular" health care bill has added to Americans' apprehensions.

Those surveyed still remain uncertain about their household finances in the near term. The gauge's personal financial outlook measure dropped 5.2 percent to 50.7 for March.

But while the index's six-month economic outlook component fell 4.7 percent to 46.4, it still lies 14.3 points higher than it was in December 2007.

The IBD/TIPP surveys more than 900 adults generally in the first week of the month. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10050185