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Investors are increasingly upbeat about the U.S. economy and stock market, according to the findings of the latest E-Trade Financial StreetWise quarterly tracking survey of experienced investors.
When it comes to the current market, 61% of those surveyed for the first-quarter report said they were bullish, up from 50% in the Q4 report and only 46% in the Q1 report last year, E-Trade said.
Meanwhile, 56% of the 909 self-directed active investors managing at least $10,000 in an online brokerage account who were surveyed online Jan. 2-10 said they believed the stock market would rise by the end of Q1, while only 24% said they thought it would drop, according to E-Trade.
Nearly half (49%) of investors surveyed this time gave the economy a "B" rating, up from 42% in Q4. In comparison, 23% gave it an "A" (up from 16%), 22% gave it a "C" (down from 32%), 4% gave it a "D" (down from 8%) and 2% again flunked it entirely with an "F."
Almost half of the investors surveyed (46%) said they expected the Federal Reserve to keep rates the same this year, up from 40% in Q4. In comparison, 9% predicted the Fed will raise rates twice (up from 0% in Q4), 29% predicted the Fed will raise rates once (up from 12%), 8% predicted the Fed will cut rates once (down from 35%), 1% predicted the Fed will cut rates twice (down from 4%) and 7% said they didn't know (down from 8%), E-Trade said.
While interest in stocks remains high, interest in exchange-traded funds is growing, with 41% of the investors surveyed this time expressing interest in them, up from 33% in Q4 and only 30% in Q1 last year. At the same time, interest in large- and mid-caps increased since Q4, the company said.
Family Investment Trends
E-Trade also this time examined how those investors surveyed who are parents handle their financial decisions, and there were both positive and negative signs in the responses.
