Monday, January 4, 2010

Welcome to 2010!

Greetings from Schaumburg! We hope that you had a relaxing and fun holiday and New Years. With January upon us, and me finished with all my AIM, Vanderbilt and WCIC end of year wrap-ups, I wanted to look ahead.


What will 2010 bring us? As a recovering economics major, I tend to read a lot of economic forecasts and, to be honest, everyone one has their own opinion. Here are what I have found to be the similarities:

• The Fed will keep the Fed Funds rate low through the first few quarters of 2010

• The rate of job loss will decline and unemployment will cap at about 9.6-10% nationally

• Our GDP is expected to rise anywhere from 1-3% in 2010



Really, this is all great for the markets, but what about everyday consumers, small businesses and corporations? The reality is, we still have a long road ahead of us. Even though there is some growth, the push of funds into the market has not stimulated the economy as much as one would have forecast. Especially given the same push in the 80’s brought a swift decrease to unemployment. Many economists think this is partly due to consumer perception. Are consumers “holding on to what they have” for fear that the recession may hit again?



Here is what we found out from our after-Christmas Holiday online survey of 2500 respondents across the country:

o Of consumers polled, 76% believe that 2010 will be better than 2009

o 71% said they stuck to a gift-buying budget this year

o 48% spent less this year on gifts, versus 2008, while 22% spent the same amount

o 51% are using coupons, this year

o 68% are eating dinner at home more this year than last year

o 15% are insecure about their current job security.

o 34% are saving more and spending less

o 14% added an additional part-time job to make ends meet.

o 42% are purchasing “store” brands





So, even though it looks like many consumers tightened their belts in 2009, the majority believe 2010 will be better (26% believe it will be A LOT better)!



Below are some comments and slides from our survey.














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