Small-business optimism rises amid tariff uncertainty
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said on Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index went up 1.7 points in July to 100.3, just above the index's long-term average of 98.
The factors that contributed to the rise of the index were respondents reporting better business conditions and arguing that it is a good time to expand. About 16 percent of respondents said it was a good time to expand their business, 5-point increase from June.
The Uncertainty Index spiked by 8 points from June to 97. One-in-five small business, 21 percent, said that labor quality was the most important problem, increasing by 5 points from June.
'Optimism rose slightly in July with owners reporting more positive expectations on business conditions and expansion opportunities. While uncertainty is still high, the next six months will hopefully offer business owners more clarity, especially as owners see the results of Congress making the 20 percent Small Business Deduction permanent and the final shape of trade policy,' NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.
'Meanwhile, labor quality has become the top issue on Main Street again,' Dunkelberg added.
When discussing the overall health of their business, 52 percent said it was 'good,' 13 percent said it was 'excellent,' 4 percent said it was 'poor' and 31 percent said it was 'fair.'
Around 11 percent of owners said that inflation was their most important problem in running their business. Some net 6 percent of owners are expecting higher real sales volumes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
2 Mutual Funds to Buy on Steady Growth in Retail Sales
The retail sector has had an impressive journey amid rising prices and inflationary pressures. Retail sales grew in July, lifting investor confidence and easing concerns over the economy's health following three straight months of weak job growth. Given this situation, retail and discretionary funds are looking increasingly attractive for investment. Investing in funds, such as Fidelity Select Retailing Portfolio FSRPX and Fidelity Select Leisure Portfolio FDLSX, could be a smart move. Retail Sales Surge in July According to the Commerce Department, retail sales rose 0.5% in July after an upwardly revised 0.9% gain in June. Retail sales were up 3.9% year over year. The July boost was largely fueled by a 1.6% rise in auto dealership sales, building on June's 1.4% gain. Online sales grew 0.8% after a 0.9% increase in June, while clothing and furniture store sales rose 0.7% and 1.4%, respectively. Consumers have been spending cautiously and saving more amid concerns about a slowing labor market and the possibility that President Donald Trump's tariffs could drive inflation higher. The tariffs have already led to higher prices in June and July, which, to some extent, were responsible for the rise in retail sales. This uptick gives room to the Federal Reserve reason to hold interest rates steady at 4.25-4.5% for an extended period. However, investors remain hopeful that tariff impacts will be limited, especially after the White House reached trade deals with multiple trading partners. Despite a cautious stance, several Fed officials have signaled plans for two 25-basis-point rate cuts before the year's end. Markets are currently pricing in an 85% chance of a rate cut in September — a move that would support both the retail sector and the broader economy. 2 Best Choices We have selected three mutual funds with significant exposure to the retail and discretionary sectors. The funds carry either a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and are poised to gain from the above factors. Moreover, these funds have encouraging three and five-year returns. Additionally, the minimum initial investment is within $5000. We expect these funds to outperform their peers in the future. Remember, the goal of the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is to guide investors in identifying potential winners and losers. Unlike most fund-rating systems, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is not just focused on past performance but also the likely future success of the fund. The question here is: why should investors consider mutual funds? Reduced transaction costs and diversification of portfolio without several commission charges that are associated with stock purchases are primarily why one should be parking money in mutual funds (read more: Mutual Funds: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How They Make Investors Money). Fidelity Select Retailing Portfolio fund aims for capital appreciation. FSRPX invests a large portion of its assets in the common stock of companies engaged in merchandising finished goods and services, primarily to individual consumers. Fidelity Select Retailing Portfolio fund has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. Specifically, FSRPX has returned nearly 13.8% and 9.8% over the past three and five-year periods, respectively. Fidelity Select Retailing Portfolio fund has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and its annual expense ratio is 0.64%, which is lower than the category average of 1.04%. To see how this fund performed compared to its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here. Fidelity Select Leisure Portfolio fund invests the majority of its assets in common stocks of companies principally engaged in the design, production, or distribution of goods or services in the leisure industries. FDLSX uses the fundamental analysis of factors such as each issuer's financial condition and industry position, as well as market and economic conditions, for its decisions. Fidelity Select Leisure Portfolio fund has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years. Specifically, FDLSX has returned nearly 18.8% and 19% over the past three and five-year periods, respectively. FDLSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and its annual expense ratio is 0.69%, which is lower than the category average of 1.04%. To see how this fund performed compared to its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here. Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks' free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing mutual funds, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (FSRPX): Fund Analysis Report Get Your Free (FDLSX): Fund Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Passing Grades for Back-to-school Shopping
The world is in turmoil, consumer confidence is shaky and prices continue to rise — but the back-to-school shopping this season is holding up. Sales of school supplies, apparel and footwear have so far met retailers' expectations, though inventories were planned very conservatively. Typically, the bts season peaks in August, but this year consumers in many parts of the country took to the malls and outlet centers earlier than ever hoping to avoid price increases later in the year due to tariffs. More from WWD LuisaViaRoma Files for Protection Measures With Florence Court, Italian Chamber of Commerce Space 519 Aims to Be More Than a Luxury Store Hailey Bieber Preps Rhode for Sephora Debut Retailers jumped on the Amazon Prime Day bandwagon with a panoply of offerings, including sharp discounts and free shipping. The 'Walmart Deals,' 'Target Circle Week' and 'Macy's Black Friday in July' events were all timed around Amazon Prime Day, which this year was extended from two to four days — July 8 to 11 — as the Internet giant sought to offset increased competition. Tax-free days last month in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico, gave another lift to traffic at stores, and some of the better-than-expected business retailers witnessed in July would be attributed to the first day of classes for the new school year starting in certain areas of the South and West. 'It's been a back-to-school season unlike any other,' Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry adviser for Circana, told WWD. 'You've got all these new dynamics and added pressures, from elevated temperatures across the country and regional flooding, to concerns about pricing and things costing more, and more sophisticated systems of supplying school supplies earlier.' According to Cohen, core needs for the classroom and basic apparel — shorts, T-shirts, underwear — as well as athletic footwear and some beauty products have top families' shopping lists. Consumers are not rushing to buy more fashionable styles, he said. Cohen said prices are higher than they were, but 'not by that much.' 'Consumers have demonstrated an acceptance of the relatively marginal price increases witnessed to date,' he said. 'They are picking and choosing what they spend on, which introduces some variability into more granular discretionary retail activity. We've got a consumer prioritizing purchases between price increases and the economy, but they rarely cut back on spending for kids going back to school.' Overall, for the four weeks ended Aug. 2, U.S. retail sales rose 2 percent across discretionary general merchandise, food and beverage, and nonedible consumer packaged goods, from the same period in 2024, while unit demand fell 1 percent, according to Circana. 'Back-to-school is off to a really good start for us,' said Stephen Lebovitz, chief executive officer of CBL Properties, a real estate investment trust with 89 properties in 22 states. 'The economy has held up. Traffic has stayed steady and is even up a bit. This is definitely surprising compared to what we would have projected three months ago. In the spring, everybody was worried.' Tax-free weekends in July, Lebovitz added, 'were really strong for a number of our malls and retailers.' Two Tennessee centers, Hamilton Place in Chattanooga and CoolSprings Galleria in Nashville, had particularly strong tax-free weekends, he said. 'Retailers were saying it was like Black Friday in the summer, but a lot of people were also buying early because they were worried about the impact of tariffs and retailers passing on higher costs.' According to several industry analysts and surveys, most consumers are spending the same or more than last year, though roughly a quarter to a third of consumers expect to spend less on bts. Analysts believe the bts season can be considered a barometer for how the holiday season plays out. 'Spending remains. It doesn't seem like what was feared is coming to fruition,' said Michael Gunther, vice president and head of insights at Consumer Edge, a data insights company specializing in analyzing consumer behavior and transactions across 40 million credit and debit cards. 'Consumers are just being a little more discerning of where they spend,' said Gunther. 'They're price-conscious.' With August almost one-half over, 'There doesn't appear a deceleration in sales growth as a result of all that pull front,' Gunther said, referring to the unprecedented level of bts shopping seen in July and June. 'It's too early to say early shopping for the season will pull business out of August.' Based on its U.S. credit and debit card data, Consumer Edge listed Aéropostale, Factory, Carter's, Hollister, PacSun, Express, Janie & Jack and Pacific Sunwear as achieving double-digit sale gains for the July 7 to 18 period, while Gap was right around 10 percent, underscoring the robust early bts shopping. But two backpack brands, Kipling and Herschel Supply, as well as American Eagle and Tilly's saw spending declines. Retailers have been prepared for the early-bird rush, having placed orders with vendors much sooner this year before the tariffs kicked in. U.S. President Donald Trump has put tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners, ranging from 15 percent on the EU to 50 percent on Brazil. Many of the tariffs went into effect Aug. 7. CBL's Lebovitz cited Gap, Hollister, Abercrombie, The Buckle, American Eagle and Palmetto Moon, a regional retailer for family apparel, gifts and home goods, as having solid seasons so far. Asked if retailers were any more promotional this year for bts than last year, Lebovitz replied, 'Being promotional is always part of it. There is an expectation' of shoppers wanting it. 'But I don't think it's any more extreme this year.' He also said he hasn't seen much in the way of recent price increases. 'If there were any price increases, there were also discounts, so the net pricing is comparable to what it has been.' 'Advertisers should take note: this is not the season for overly showy or out-of-touch creative campaigns,' Tony Gemma, vice president and global head of Yahoo Creative, said in a statement. 'Shoppers want value. Ads that emphasize discounts, practical tips, and ease of purchase are more likely to win.' Here's how Yahoo and other industry sources and tech-oriented firms evaluated BTS 2025: Yahoo's '2025 Back-to-School Shopping Survey' of 1,000 consumers indicates that 70 percent of K-12 parents and 55 percent of college students plan to spend more this season, largely driven by inflation and increased tech needs. Nine in 10 shoppers are worried about U.S. macroeconomic factors, such as inflation and the rising cost of living. Still, the average back-to-school shopper plans to spend just $371, with many budgeting less than $500. Samsung Ads, the advertising platform for the South Korean conglomerate, surveyed shoppers and found that three-quarters of bts shoppers plan to spend the same or more on bts merchandise than a year ago, with 41 percent planning to spend the same amount as last year; 33 percent planning to spend more, and 26 percent expecting to spend less. Eighty-two percent of bts shoppers say mid-summer (July) is the most impactful time to influence their bts purchase decisions, Samsung reported. GumGum, an adtech company, conducted a bts shopping survey of 3,000 consumers across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany in mid May. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents said price and promotions were the top factors when buying bts supplies; 35 percent said they're actively hunting for sales due to economic pressures, and 27 percent said they would be buying less than last year. GumGum also indicted that 61 percent of the consumers' bts spending would be for clothing and footwear. The National Retail Federation, with Prosper Insights & Analytics, predicted based on their annual bts survey that spending for students in grades kindergarten through high school will reach $41.5 billion — up 12.5 percent from $36.9 billion last year. The previous high was $37.1 billion in 2021. The survey also concluded that back-to-college spending is expected to hit $94 billion, about $20 billion or 27 percent more than last year's record $74 billion. The NRF sees U.S. retail sales for all of 2025 increasing 2.7 to 3.7 percent over 2024. As NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay previously said, 'Retailers have been preparing for months to ensure they are well stocked with essential items that families and students need for the school year.' Best of WWD Macy's Is Closing 66 Stores in 2025 — Here's the List, Live Updates Inside the Demise of Lord & Taylor COVID-19 Spikes Elevate Retail Concerns Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Congresswoman Files Hundreds Of Stock Trades Late, Including Palantir Stock Up Over 600%
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Efforts to ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks could continue to rise with several recent disclosures violating the STOCK Act. A new filing by a member of Congress lists hundreds of trades since March 2024. Here's the latest. What Happened: One of the hottest stocks for members of Congress to buy in 2025 has been Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), a company that has won numerous government contracts and may pose a conflict of interest for members serving on government committees who invest in the stock. Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) previously served on the Committee on Armed Services and the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation. Trending: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — The Congresswoman recently disclosed hundreds of stock trades in an Aug. 13 filing. While some of the hundreds of stock purchases and sales happened in the months of August and July 2025, many of the trades were dated back to periods in 2024. The purchases in the filing went all the way back to March 2024, as reported by the Benzinga Government Trades page. Among the notable transactions were multiple trades involving Palantir stock. Here are five trades disclosed in the filing and the highest price for PLTR stock on that particular day: June 6, 2024: Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in PLTR stock, stock high $23.95 August 14, 2024: Bought $15,000 to $50,000 in PLTR stock, stock high $31.37 October 23, 2024: Sold $50,000 to $100,000 in PLTR stock, stock high $43.68 November 7, 2024: Bought $100,000 to $250,000 in PLTR stock, stock high $56.47 June 17, 2025: Bought $1,000 to $15,000 in PLTR stock, stock high $141.69 Palantir stock trades at $177.17 at the time of writing, significantly higher than the prices above. In fact, Palantir stock is up 639.7% from the first purchase in June 2024 based on the highest price point of the day. The stock is also up at least 464.8% from the August 2024 purchase price and up 213.7% from the November 2024 price. It is unknown whether McClain sold the entire positions bought in June and August 2024 in the October 2024 sale, which was reported at between $50,000 and $100,000. Palantir stock is also up 25% from the latest purchase in June 2025. Benzinga reached out for comment and did not hear to a report from the Detroit News, the trades in the filing were conducted by McClain's husband Mike. "She promptly filed the necessary paperwork immediately after being made aware of the transactions made in managed accounts and remains committed to transparency and adherence to all House financial disclosure rules and regulations," spokesman Mason Devers told the Detroit News. The transactions were reported outside the 45-day disclosure window, which could result in fines of $200 for the Congresswoman. What's Next: McClain's late filings come after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act, or PELOSI Act, based on the first letter of each of the main words. The name targets Congresswoman and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The bill made its way out of committee and could come before Congress for a vote. Benzinga recently polled readers to gauge their stance on a potential ban on Congress members trading. 'Should members of Congress be allowed to buy and sell stocks, options and ETFs?' Benzinga asked. These were the results: They should not be allowed to trade stocks, options or ETFs: 43% They should be allowed to trade as long as they report within 24 hours: 24% They should only be allowed to trade ETFs and mutual funds: 14% They should be allowed to trade as long as they report in 45 days: 11% They should only be allowed to trade stocks: 8% The poll found that 43% of readers support an outright ban on members of Congress trading stocks, options, or ETFs. Eleven percent voted to leave the current rules unchanged, with a 45-day disclosure window. Read Next: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share. If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? Photo: Shutterstock This article Congresswoman Files Hundreds Of Stock Trades Late, Including Palantir Stock Up Over 600% originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
