Investor Attitudes Continue to Rise

For the first time since October 2007, the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index (SMICI) ^SM entered Mildly Bullish territory as it climbed in February from 2 to 17. The Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index (SAICI) ^SM also rose from -3 to 4. These encouraging signs of investor confidence were somewhat tempered by a decline after five months of growth in the overall Spectrem Affluent Household Outlook.
Millionaires and Non-Millionaires had an attitudinal switch this month. Millionaires exhibited much stronger confidence in the economy despite an increase in the percentage of Millionaires—21.7%, up from 16% last month—who chose to Not Invest. Millionaire investments in Cash, on the other hand, decreased 11.3%. Millionaires drove increases in almost all investment categories from Stocks to Bond Mutual Funds.
The overall Millionaire Household Outlook was at its highest since April 2007 and the attitude toward the Economy at a seven-year high. The Non-Millionaire Outlook, on the other hand, plummeted from 22.5% last month to 3.7%. Their attitude toward the Economy dropped sharply to 10.3% from 44% last month. It is worth noting that although the overall Household Outlook did decrease this month to 18.3% from 23.2% in January, it is the highest reading since September 2007.
The uprising that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s near 30-year-rule was the current news story that investors cited as the one most impacting their economic outlook. This is the first time in almost a year that domestic news about the political climate, the economy, or unemployment was superseded by international events.