Conference Board Confidence Index of CEO vs. U.S. Real Business Investment The trade war has no winners and could curtail U.S. business investment further. Image: NBF Economics and Strategy
S&P 500 vs. U.S. CEO Confidence Survey Economic Expectations The S&P 500 is in “Fear of Missing Out” mode, while CEO confidence has fallen to its lowest level in a decade. Image: Nordea and Macrobond
U.S. Consumer Confidence and CEO Confidence The trade war keeps weighing on CEO confidence, which is near record lows, while consumer confidence has remained relatively strong. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Conference Board CEO Business Confidence – Expectations for Economy 6 Months Ahead CEOs in the U.S. remain pessimistic about economic conditions. Outside of U.S. recession, CEO confidence has never been so low. Image: Pictet Asset Management
Inequality: CEO Compensation vs. Typical Worker Compensation in the U.S. CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978, while typical worker compensation has risen by only 12%. Image: Economic Policy Institute
CEO Confidence & Business Confidence Deutsche Bank points out that something happened to CEO confidence and business confidence when the trade war escalated in 2018H2. Image: Deutsche Bank Global Research
Jamie Dimon: CEOs optimistic about business outlook Jamie Dimon is Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase and Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the American University’s 15th president. They speak about the state of the U.S. economy with CNBC’s Kayla Tausche. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEeY9k_VHzE
Sentiment – GS Business Optimism Tracker U.S. business optimism has seen a significant and widespread decline in early 2025, as multiple indicators and surveys report sharp drops in sentiment among CEOs, CFOs, and small business owners. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
The Rise of the Tech Giants – Market Value In terms of returns to shareholders, Jeff Bezos (Amazon) is behind Elon Musk (Tesla) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) since flotation or during the CEO’s tenure. Image: Financial Times
U.S. Buybacks – Quarterly Share Repurchases by S&P 500 Companies CEOs are worried about the economy and U.S. companies are spending less on stock buybacks, amid the trade war. Image: Financial Times
Number of Small-Cap M&A Deals At 10-Year High The number of small-cap deals is expected to continue to grow, because CEOs are under pressure to increase profits Image: Legg Mason