Buoyed by a challenging  Dow that has  tested new highs and refused to stay down, and despite some dire economic predictors, Millionaires indicated a very strong intention to purchase stocks. This drove the Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index (SMII)® up 11 points for the third largest gain since September 2006 (+12 points) and November 2005 (+13 points) from neutral into mildly bullish territory. This is the SMII® ’s largest gain of the year beating April’s ten point rise.

Despite the fact that the SMII®  rose, it probably isn’t a permanent upswing considering the current economic climate and instability and considering what a large concern the stock market is to them (p. 3). Millionaires will be quick to react to the recent market lows.

The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index(SAII)®  rose only slightly as respondents with at least $500,000 in investable assets, refused to follow their Millionaire cousins into the stock market fray. The difference between the indices is a tie for the largest gap at a 14 point difference between the two.

The Millionaire push back into Stocks contributed to the all-time steepest rise for this measure of Investment Preferences, rocketing Stock Investing +11.2 points from 14.8 to 26.0.  Real Estate hovered slightly south and Bonds lost two points, while Not Investing dropped –5.2 points (further supporting Millionaire intention to reenter the stock market).

Despite the sharp rise in interest in Stocks, the Affluent remain deeply concerned, as they hear analysts and pundits use the R word (Recession). The Household Outlook retreated (-4.2) to the lower August levels of this year, showing that gains made in affluent confidence last month were short lived, and this month’s surge back into Stock investing may not have legs.

All components of the household outlook were down except Company Health which rose slightly. The largest dip in household outlook components was with reaction to the Economy (falling -6.4 points), which has shown an overall  downward trajectory since February of this year.

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