1pts  Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII)^®   

Millionaires gain some confidence back after last month’s high anxiety 

3pts  Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII)^®   

Affluent rally slightly and gain three points, recovering slightly from last month’s concern and confusion.

After a rocky and unpredictable January, the markets settled down slightly, and the Affluent responded to that with a small rise in the indices. The Spectrem Affluent Index (SAII)rose 3pts from –13 to –10, which was mirrored by the Spectrem Millionaire Index (SMII)which rose 1 pt from –6 to –5.

Perhaps the Affluent are responding to the Fed’s attempts, at the end of January, to stabilize the economy with a series of interest rate cuts. The coming months should prove interesting with the pending presidential election, talk of recession, stagflation, and a good deal of instability still remaining. Though Cash and Stock Mutual Fund investing fell, all other investments rose, showing the Affluent are returning to the market, albeit, cautiously. Not Investing rose two points. Millionaires (35.3) have a much higher percentage for Cash investing than do the Non-Millionaires (25.2) and the same is true of Millionaires and Not Investing.

The Affluent are usually one step ahead of the pack, and their return to investing in February could signal a much needed reprieve. Though still eight months away, the upcoming election is weighing heavily on the minds of the Affluent and Millionaires. Historically over the last year, the Iraq War has dropped as a concern, and the housing and real estate market has risen, peaking in August 2007. Considering the way the real estate market has affected many aspects of financial services and the doom and gloom press coverage, this is not surprising.

Following one of the most economically unstable months in memory, the Affluent Household Outlook rose very slightly (6.4), maybe not signaling less anxiety, but rather a “wait and see” attitude. Fueling the overall upswing was a 17.2 rise for the economic measure, though the Household Income measure fell 4. 

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