Americans just made a major about-face on the stock market for the first time since Trump's election

pulse

April 24, 2018 6:17 PM

People who expect the stock market to fall over the next year now outnumber people who predict the opposite, according to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence survey.

For the first time since the 2016 US election, more Americans expect stocks to fall over the next 12 months than rise, according to Conference Board's
Stocks peaked in January after a 22% surge in the prior year.

Americans have turned on the stock market — for now.

People who expect the stock market to fall over the next year now outnumber people who predict the opposite, according to the Conference Board's April survey of consumers.

The index that tracks expectations for a decrease frequently zooms past the index that tracks an increase. But this happened in April for the first time since the US elections in November 2016, when the stock market extended what became known as the Trump rally.

Stocks peaked this past January after a 22% surge in the prior year, the second-best annual gain since the Great Recession. That month, the index of expectations for stocks to continue rising peaked, too.

The good news is that consumers' overall assessment of the economy is still good — it actually improved in April.

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