US earnings pick up starting next weekend. In general, CEOs are lying, spinning or talking their own book. They move broader markets but it’s rarely lasting or insightful. FedEX is an exception but they reported in late March, saying the global economy is slowing.
The other exception for me is John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco. He’s a straight talker and his company has great insight on investment plans. His outlook for public spending is worsening:
“Public spending will stay tough this year – I wish I could give you a different answer to that – it’s probably going to get tougher before it gets better,” says Chambers.
Everyone knows that cutting spending isn’t going to end the Great Recession but it is what it is. My feeling is that private forecasters are underestimating how much this will cut into growth.