Dan Celia: Slipping Business Sentiment Mirrors Uncertainty

PHILADELPHIA—Nationally syndicated host and biblical investing authority Dan Celia pointed today to a bit of a rough start to the week, with indices finishing in negative territory. But an important data point to expect this week is business sentiment, he said.

“The National Federation of Independent Businesses’ sentiment number is a figure I’ve been concerned about and been watching very closely,” Celia said. “According to NFIB president and CEO Juanita Duggan, small business owners curbed spending last month, sales expectations and profits both fell, and the outlook for expansion was somewhat dampened. She went on to say that when you add difficulty finding qualified workers to harmful state-level laws and regulations, you’re left with a volatile mix, where uncertainty has increased to levels not seen in more than two years.

“Optimism among American small business owners took a modest downturn for the month of June,” Celia added. “The optimism index did slip 1.7 points to 103.3, but optimism remains at historically high levels, and these June figures reverse some of the gains posted in May, with six components falling, three improving and one unchanged. The uncertainty index rose substantially, increasing seven points to the highest level since March of 2017. We normally don’t pay a lot of attention to the uncertainty index, but that’s what we are looking at in the economy and in the markets. It’s all about uncertainty, and uncertainty is surrounding us and seems to be growing on a very regular basis.”

Celia discusses these and other global and economic headlines on his daily, three-hour “Financial Issues” program, heard on about more than 650 radio stations and several television networks nationwide.

Read more about Celia, FISM and “Financial Issues” or visit the FISM website, its Facebook page, on YouTube at Financial Issues with Dan Celia or on Twitter @financialissues; download the FISM app here.

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