The economy continues to give mixed signals with the release of recent economic news. Factory orders fell 5.2% in August as demand for aircraft and autos declined. The weekly jobless claims report continues to provide an unclear picture. One week jobless claims decline- the next week they increase. It feels like the economy is on a seesaw ride, which is resulting in a lot of business owners keeping their credit lines intact by using alternative financing.
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released its 2012 U.S. Economic Outlook report and it wasn’t pretty. Equipment and software investment slowed to an annualized rate of 4.8% in Q2, down from 5.4% in Q1. The Equipment Leasing & Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index, indicates equipment finance activity is still growing, but at a slower rate than 2011. Madison Capital is seeing more activity in the commercial vehicle transportation space over the past few months.
A lot of small business investment has stalled due to the uncertainty of tax and budgetary policy, which should clear up after the election. And speaking of the election, after the debates the other night, the election is certainly not over. This means of course, continued uncertainty for at least a few more months.