Suddenly, adviser confidence on the decline

Adviser confidence in the economy and the stock market slid in February. The Advisor Confidence Index, a benchmark that gauges adviser views on the U.S. economy and stock market, came in at 107.18 in February. That's down nearly 2% from the 109.68 score in January, according to Rydex SGI AdvisorBenchmarking, an affiliate of Rydex SGI that publishes the index. The majority of the advisers (65%) who participated in the study said they're most concerned about unemployment. “While the fundamentals of the U.S. economy may improve over the next several months into summer, the lack of job growth will continue to be both a psychological and material drag on the economy overall,” said George “Lisle” Cheatham, president of American Financial Consultants Inc., an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group Inc., and a participant in the study, The Advisor Confidence index, issued today, came out around the same time an influential manufacturing index was released. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said its manufacturing index read 56.5 last month. While that's lower than the 58.4 score in January, any reading above 50 indicates expansion. ISM also said its employment measure grew for the fourth time in five months, climbing from 53.3 in January to 56.1 in February. February's number is the highest since January 2005, the ISM said.