Despite Record Highs, Americans Haven’t Been This Downbeat About Stocks Since Trump Was Elected

With the world and its pet rabbit demanding that central banks cut rates, increase QE, and forward-guide rates lower to infinity and beyond, US stock markets have responded by rallying aimlessly back within inches of all-time record highs.

The rampage higher in stocks has happened as earnings expectations have tumbled…

Which is a problem, because, as the New York Fed’s latest survey of consumer expectations shows, Americans haven’t been this unenthusiastic about US equity markets since Trump was elected…

So, as we noted recently, those lucky enough to be ‘in’ stocks, better hope that the C-suite keeps buying, because “the sole buyer of US stocks remain corporate buybacks, not institutions” as shown in the chart below.

This is notable not only because it means that without the buyback bid (made possible by record cheap debt, which is used to fund corporate stock repurchases) stocks would be far, far lower, but because it is a carbon copy of what we observed almost exactly two years ago, suggesting that between the summers of 2017 and 2019 absolutely nothing has changed.

And as a bonus, here is the reason why The Fed is worrying so aggressively about the economy…

Simply put, everyone is now saving money as hopes for higher rates in the future have collapsed.