Earnings reports continue to be positive on balance, with most of the September quarter-end earnings reports now in. While reports of companies beating expectations are widespread, a good way to view investors’ complete evaluation is by examining stock performance. For a quarter that had its problems, growth was still around 2%, in line with the average post-recession growth rate. Looking at a longer time period provides a good perspective for that 1.9% growth rate. Therefore, in spite of that previous sharp drop in consumer confidence, consumer spending has remained strong and consumer confidence has improved.

Source: Forbes November 04, 2019 02:15 UTC