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For Immediate Release August 22, 1998
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Confidence in Stocks Arlington, Texas—A majority of adults in the United States believe that stocks and mutual funds will increase in value in coming months, according to a national survey conducted the last week of July by Decision Analyst, Inc., a leading national marketing research company.

When asked if stocks and mutual funds will "increase in value, or decrease in value, over the next six months?" 50.0% of U.S. adults (18 or older in age) said that stocks and mutual funds will increase in value. Only 14.5% held the opinion that stocks and mutual funds would decrease in value over the next six months, while 35.5% thought stocks would stay about the same. "These survey results came just before U.S. stocks experienced significant declines in early August," said Jerry W. Thomas, president/CEO of Decision Analyst. "It will be interesting to see how the recent declines in the market will affect public attitudes in coming months. The continuing bad economic news from Asia and Russian will likely weaken public confidence in U.S. stock markets also."

Interestingly, men were more positive about the market than women were. Among men, 57.6% thought stocks would go up, while only 46.2% of women said stocks would increase. People aged 55 or older were the most negative about stock prospects. Only 42.9% of the 55 or older group said stocks and mutual funds would increase in value, while about 50% of younger respondents thought the market would go up.

The higher a household’s income, the more positive that household was about the future value of stocks and mutual funds. In the $75,000 and above annual income group, 58.4% said stocks would increase in value; but in the under $25,000 income group only 42.7% said stocks would go up.

These survey results are based on responses from 4,400 Internet households nationwide. The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 2%.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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