You may be forgiven for being pessimistic if you take the most recent financial headlines to heart.
Perusing the papers this week I discovered that Consumer confidence declines in November, and that Forecasters look for economy to slow.
There were plenty of others proclaiming the same sentiment.
One article noted that U.
S.
consumer confidence fell in November as Americans grew more pessimistic about the job market.
Sentiment indexes have traditionally been seen as a gauge of U.
S.
consumer spending, which accounts for approximately two-thirds of overall economic activity.
"Despite this retreat in confidence, the overall level of confidence remains favorable and continues to suggest that the economy will expand throughout the first half of next year," said one analyst optimistically.
In yet another article, forecasters say that the economy will continue to slow.
But really, you're not going out on a limb with that prediction.
You don't need a crystal ball too see that the U.
S.
economy has been battered by a bigger-than-expected slump in housing.
On the other hand, the economy should continue to grow next year as consumers get relief from soaring energy costs.
Or at least, so says a panel of 50 top forecasters in a survey released this week by the National Association for Business Economics.
Sales of both new and existing homes, which set records for five straight years, have been falling.
Construction of new homes and apartments has declined, with construction activity in October down 27.
4% from a year ago.
Still, the NABE panel predicted that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will expand by 2.
5% in 2007.
Despite the doom and gloom, the third-oldest bull market in history continues to march onward.
But for how long? Many market pros say the outlook for stocks is good, even though stocks have had a big run since July.
They cite strong earnings, lower oil prices, and the belief that the economy is headed for a so-called "soft-landing".
Lest we forget, November and December are typically strong months for stocks, making the fourth quarter the best one on Wall Street.
So, listen to the headlines, and things don't really appear to be all that rosy.
Or at least, they could be much rosier.
But, look at the indexes and you'll see that things are much better than they appear; at least if you're a penny stock investor.
The Penny Stock Index as found at Davren Penny Stocks is outshining its peers.
For November, The Penny Stock index is up a bullish 8.
99% at 11,859.
The Russell 2000 index, a widely used benchmark for small-cap stocks, is, as of Thursday, November 30 up only 1.
3% since the beginning of the month at 776.
86.
While penny stock investors are clearly hoping that the current bull market has legs, analysts keep calling for a correction, considering that the Dow and TSX are both at record highs; the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are at or near 6-year highs.
There are some seasonality factors at play as well.
Some note that the market usually corrects itself in early January.
But should you care what the analysts think? As per usual, I say ignore the headlines and cast aside the Wall Street grinches.
Had you followed the headlines and played it safe these past few weeks...
you probably would have missed out on the strong uptrend in penny stocks.
So play penny stocks the way you like and enjoy the ride.
Perusing the papers this week I discovered that Consumer confidence declines in November, and that Forecasters look for economy to slow.
There were plenty of others proclaiming the same sentiment.
One article noted that U.
S.
consumer confidence fell in November as Americans grew more pessimistic about the job market.
Sentiment indexes have traditionally been seen as a gauge of U.
S.
consumer spending, which accounts for approximately two-thirds of overall economic activity.
"Despite this retreat in confidence, the overall level of confidence remains favorable and continues to suggest that the economy will expand throughout the first half of next year," said one analyst optimistically.
In yet another article, forecasters say that the economy will continue to slow.
But really, you're not going out on a limb with that prediction.
You don't need a crystal ball too see that the U.
S.
economy has been battered by a bigger-than-expected slump in housing.
On the other hand, the economy should continue to grow next year as consumers get relief from soaring energy costs.
Or at least, so says a panel of 50 top forecasters in a survey released this week by the National Association for Business Economics.
Sales of both new and existing homes, which set records for five straight years, have been falling.
Construction of new homes and apartments has declined, with construction activity in October down 27.
4% from a year ago.
Still, the NABE panel predicted that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will expand by 2.
5% in 2007.
Despite the doom and gloom, the third-oldest bull market in history continues to march onward.
But for how long? Many market pros say the outlook for stocks is good, even though stocks have had a big run since July.
They cite strong earnings, lower oil prices, and the belief that the economy is headed for a so-called "soft-landing".
Lest we forget, November and December are typically strong months for stocks, making the fourth quarter the best one on Wall Street.
So, listen to the headlines, and things don't really appear to be all that rosy.
Or at least, they could be much rosier.
But, look at the indexes and you'll see that things are much better than they appear; at least if you're a penny stock investor.
The Penny Stock Index as found at Davren Penny Stocks is outshining its peers.
For November, The Penny Stock index is up a bullish 8.
99% at 11,859.
The Russell 2000 index, a widely used benchmark for small-cap stocks, is, as of Thursday, November 30 up only 1.
3% since the beginning of the month at 776.
86.
While penny stock investors are clearly hoping that the current bull market has legs, analysts keep calling for a correction, considering that the Dow and TSX are both at record highs; the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are at or near 6-year highs.
There are some seasonality factors at play as well.
Some note that the market usually corrects itself in early January.
But should you care what the analysts think? As per usual, I say ignore the headlines and cast aside the Wall Street grinches.
Had you followed the headlines and played it safe these past few weeks...
you probably would have missed out on the strong uptrend in penny stocks.
So play penny stocks the way you like and enjoy the ride.
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