Small Business: Bad But Less Bad

Discover Small Business Watch reports on April polling:

April results show a surge in the number of small business owners who say economic conditions for their own businesses are getting better: 30 percent of them say the climate will get better in the next six months, compared to only 20 percent who answered that way in March. Of the remaining respondents; 48 percent say the climate is getting worse, but that number is down from 53 percent in March.

When asked about their intentions to invest in their businesses, 23 percent say they would increase spending, up from 18 percent in March, while 43 percent still plan to decrease spending, which is down from 52 percent in March; 31 percent say they will make no changes.

Small business owners who say the current economy is good or excellent was 13 percent in April, up from 7 percent in March and the highest it has been in 20 months; 29 percent rate the economy as fair, and 57 percent think it's poor.

The outlook for the direction of the economy improved: 31 percent say it is getting better, up from 22 percent in March; while 52 percent say it's getting worse, down from 58 percent the prior month; and 14 percent aren't sure.

The trend is your friend. Small business is following big business. Money printing plus cyclical factors are working, for now.

The implications for stock prices are more mixed, given extreme valuations by several fundamental measures.

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