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HOW HIGH IS THE “WALL OF WORRY”?

The “wall of worry” indicator, a combination of consumer and producer sentiment readings, has continued to trend lower in the most recent month despite the growing fears of an economic slow-down.  The June reading comes in at 75.6 which is down from the May reading of 76.5, but up a bit from the April reading of 74.4.

Despite the downtrend, this is still a historically high level for the metric and is consistent with an environment in which long-term fears over the economy are high.  During each of the last three severe economic downturns the index peaked over 90.  In the go-go days of the Nasdaq bubble the index reached its all-time low of 47.6.  During the 2007 credit boom the index bottomed at 65.9.  A reading of 76.5 tells me that there is still substantial worry in the market.

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