When casting their eyes upon the horizon that is their marketplace, a majority of CEOs and Business Owners in Northeastern Wisconsin look no farther than the nose on their face. When it comes to business, The Long View is considerably shorter these days…With all the economic indicators and gauges available on their corporate dashboard, CEOs up here on the Tundra seem more concerned with the Speedometer than that annoying, periodic Oil Change Idiot Light. They’re barreling down the road faster than a 16-year-old with a new license and a hot date. They’re living in The Now, right now!
According to data collected last month by the Nicolet Bank Business Pulse©, 77% of the CEOs and Business Owners in Northeastern Wisconsin use only glancing reliance on the economic data being “on starred” to their dashboards. According to CEOs, the data they look at has a six-month warranty, at best.
Even with a short window of reliance on economic data for their business, CEOs and Business Owners take a much longer view when it comes to their personal investment horizon: 80% look out more than a year; 11% say the have a “One Year” window. Five percent said they look out six-months; 2% look ahead to the next quarter; 2% look ahead just 30-days when formulating their personal investment strategies. (THAT’S living in the NOW!)
Those strategies seem to be reflected in the personal portfolios. CEOs were asked: “Which of the following do you have MOST of your investments today?”
Half are mostly in Stocks; 32% are mostly in Real Estate. Fourteen percent said they have the majority parked in Money Market accounts; 2% in Bonds; 2% in Gold and Silver; ONE percent in T-Bills.
If they were making NEW investments today, 45% said they’d be buying Stock; 28% would be buying Real Estate. Money Market Accounts (6%), Bonds (6%) and Treasuries (3%) didn’t get much action this quarter, but Gold and Silver jumped 10 points to 12%. (Some CEOs must have known something was up in the Metals Market because Nicolet Bank asked these questions in early November - before Gold’s dramatic, month-long Gold Rush. Whatever gauge or indicator Nicolet Bank CEOs were watching back then, some were Dead On with their prediction of the new, ‘Oh-Niner Gold Rush. They nailed it.)
CEOs who jumped on the '09 Gold Rush must be the ones who will spend more "Gold" on Christmas this year. Two percent said they were going to spend MORE this year compared to last; 52% said they would spend the SAME; 46% said they’d spend LESS.
Six percent will be giving employees a larger Holiday Bonus this year (14% will be the same as last year; 18%, less). Eight percent of those who gave bonuses last year will not give one this year; 8% are Not Sure. (29% never give a Holiday Bonus; 18% haven’t given them for a few years.)
Beyond Christmas and Holiday spending, 64% of the CEOs said they were spending less on themselves during the recession (new clothes, personal care, fitness training). They said they were cutting other personal spending, as well: “In what ways has the recession affected your personal spending?”
Fifty percent said they were spending less on durable products for their homes; 49% were eating out less; 42% reduced their vacation plans; 31% are putting of retirement a few years; 27% are putting off a new car.
